Ukrainians are so obsessed with Star Wars that they just recently voted someone running as Emperor Palpatine for a seat on the Odessa City Council.
The candidate running under that name won the election with over 50 percent of the votes.
Of course, a fellow candidate, a very real person named Aleksandr Borovik, was less than thrilled about the results.
"This is beyond my understanding," said Borovik to RT.com. "People, what's wrong with you?"
In the Star Wars films, Emperor Palpatine started out his political career as a Senator, but used his dark side powers and manipulation techniques to eventually become Emperor. As Darth Sidious, he corrupted Anakin Skywalker and helped create the man that eventually became Darth Vader.
Emperor Palpatine has since become the gold standard for evil in pop culture.
But now, he's beginning his rise to power, at least in the Ukraine. What's even more terrifying, though, is that he defeated fellow fictional characters Yoda, Padme Amidala and Chewbacca.
So how does something like this happen? After the city council got dissolved, registered voters cast new ballots on October 25. And apparently, Odessa voters either consider their elections a joke or just can't distinguish between real life and Star Wars.
Other incidents on election day involved Chewbacca getting arrested for campaigning on that day. Interestingly enough, though, he wasn't campaigning for himself, but for Darth Vader. He received a fine, but refused to pay up because "his 'funds are in an intergalactic bank that has no branches on this planet'.
Darth Vader also ran as a candidate, but was not allowed to vote because he refused to move his face mask for identification purposes. The candidate's real name is actually Darth Alekseevich Vader. However, Yoda recently submitted a petition to have Darth Vader considered as the Ukraine's new Prime Minister.
There is some seriousness behind these joke candidates, though. These parties popped up to defend internet freedom and limits on copyright laws.
Odessa also recently saved a statue of Lenin scheduled for removal: that statue now, though, bears the figure of Darth Vader. Apparently, communism is out and the Empire is in.
May the force be with us all.
Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens opens in theaters on December 18. We can probably expect more Ukrainian shenanigans soon with the release of the new movie.
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