Sixteen Darth Vaders have made an imperial march onto the ballot in Ukraine’s upcoming parliamentary elections, the latest and most expansive appearance of the “Star Wars” villain’s name and likeness in the country’s political life.
All have been registered by Ukraine’s Central Election Commission for the October 26 ballot, a snap election announced by President Petro Poroshenko in August.
Seven of the "Darth Vaders" are with the Internet Party of Ukraine, which advocates technological improvements to eliminate bureaucracy, while the other five are running as independents.
Ukrainian political activists have used the “Dark Lord” of the legendary science-fiction series in several political stunts in recent years.
In 2013, Internet Party of Ukraine activists dressed as the evil commander tried to enter the Justice Ministry in Kiev, demanding an appointment with then-Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych to request that the ministry stop pressuring the party.
In 2011, a Ukrainian official in the Ukrainian Black Sea resort of Odesa didn’t flinch when a resident showed up dressed as Darth Vader to apply for a free plot of land, citing a Ukrainian law stating that citizens have a right to own 1,000 square meters of land, Reuters reported at the time.
The man identified himself as "Darth Vader, the right hand of Emperor Palpatine,” and said that because local elected officials had “switched to the dark side” he had come for a plot of land to park his “space cruiser.”
But the absurdity was given free rein in April 2014, when a determined Darth Vader busily plied the crowds of his constituency near the Ukrainian Central Elections Commission. He (or she) had registered as a candidate for Ukraine's May 25 presidential election, a vote that presented itself after some decidedly less funny events had played out in the country.
A few days earlier, activists from the surprisingly diverse Internet Party of Ukraine held a party congress to drum up support ahead of the historic vote.
As for the October vote, the 16 Darth Vaders have a range of patronymics in order to distinguish themselves on the ballot. Six are named “Darth Volodymyrovych Vader,” while the others have patronymics such as “Viktorovych,” “Leonidovych” and “Olehovych.”
While Darth Vader was a paragon of evil in most of director George Lucas’s first three “Star Wars” films, none of the Ukrainian candidates has a criminal record.
The Internet Party of Ukraine is running several candidates with names of “Star Wars” characters, including "Master Volodymyrovych Yoda,""Stepan Mikhaylovych Chewbacca," and "Emperor Viktorovych Palpatine."
Just days before the elections in May, the party posted a campaign ad on their YouTube channel, showcasing their candidate's grocery-shopping and lightsaber-wielding skills.
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