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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Elle Hunt

Vote for Harambe: Australian election gives second life to Cincinnati zoo gorilla

Harambe
Harambe, the western lowland gorilla shot dead at Cincinnati zoo in late May after a toddler fell into his enclosure. Photograph: Jeff McCurry/AP

Could Australia’s next prime minister be Harambe, the gorilla that died?

As is often the case with headlines posed as questions, the answer is: no.

But the federal election – and overseas media – has got caught up in Australian Twitter users’ running joke about the gorilla that was shot dead at Cincinnati zoo in late May after a toddler fell into his enclosure.

Harambe has found life after death online as a meme-ish punchline on social media – partly in response to the interminable online “takes” over whether or not his death was justified and partly because of the intrinsic callousness of the internet.

With the longest federal election campaign since the 1960s, it was inevitable that Harambe-Twitter and #auspol-Twitter would eventually overlap.

On Saturday, election day, some shared evidence of their following through, writing in Harambe’s name on their ballot papers in a bid to show just how far they would go for a gag.

In response a journalist for the Independent in the United Kingdom, May Bulman, who had inquired to ask “why are you voting for Harambe” for a story, “@worstbloke” replied: “this election has no one with the courage, prowess & status Harambe has. He died for our sins & will return, I love him”.

“Well i think we Aussies feel our government should have done more to save Harambe and now we’re voting for his corpse,” another user told Bulman.

Her story on voters “opting against ... the official candidates ... by instead casting their ballot for killed gorilla Harambe” appeared in the Independent shortly afterwards, with Bulman apparently having been entirely taken in by the joke.

“Following the country’s longest election campaign since 1984, a number of social media users suggested they were unwilling to choose either current prime minister Malcolm Turnbull or leader of the opposition Bill Shorten,” she wrote.

While it is strictly true that Australians voted for the gorilla that died on the strength of the above images, it likely did not void their votes for actual, living candidates that matter.

If the ballot paper was otherwise completed correctly, they would not be counted as informal votes, as was clarified by several Twitter users who had proof from the Australian Electoral Commission.

If the ballot paper was otherwise completed accurately, a vote for Harambe – or any other gag – still counts. Just not for the gorilla that died, obviously.

Look, whatever boosts the youth turn-out.

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