Bob CollinsWhen they tell you that you can't be a senator because you're a cat #Cats #CatsRights #catsoftwitter #CatSenator pic.twitter.com/tQkcQHmnVt
— Professor X (@CatSenator) April 16, 2015
If cats could get the respect they occasionally deserve, a cat — Professor X, to you — would be the newest member of the North Dakota State University Senate.
The cat picked up 50 votes — the second most among write-in candidates — in the election, although the campaign started (via Facebook) just a day before the election.
“I kind of viewed the cat as a way to get people out to vote because you can’t just write-in the cat, you have to have an informed opinion on constitutional amendments and things like that,” communications major Jacob Lynch told the Fargo Forum, underselling the likelihood that a cat would know as much about things like that as your basic college kid.
Twelve seats were up for grabs in the race, but only five students ran, paving the way for Professor X to be one of seven write-in winners.
Initially, the cat got 38 official votes but an election official says the vote count was raised “because some students struggled to spell ‘Professor X’ correctly,” the student newspaper, Spectrum, reported.
Officials refused to seat the cat because he’s not enrolled as a student.
“Professor X has always valued the democratic ideals that the student body elections represent. He knew going into this election that he may not get all of the votes; his priority was encouraging the students of NDSU to get out and have their voices heard,” Lynch said.
In that respect, the campaign was a dog. Only 13 percent of students voted.
(c/t: Ann Arbor Miller)
