The new mayor of a mountain town in northern Italy has been voted in almost completely by accident.

Fabio Borsatti, 50, stood in Cimolais as a last-minute favour to the only candidate, worried not enough people would vote if he stood unopposed. But, despite even Mr Borsatti’s own family voting for his rival, the unlikely candidate won the poll.

He only realised he had become mayor when people telephoned him, as he was watching football, to congratulate him…

“I wanted Gino [Bertolo] to win. Even my relatives voted for him…My daughter, my sister, my father and my mother – they all voted for him.”

But in the poll, Mr Borsatti obtained 160 votes – securing almost 58% of the vote – compared with just 117 votes for his good friend, Mr Bertolo.

Mr Borsatti has said he has no plans to resign and intends to carry out his duties for the 507 people who make up the population of Cimolais, in Friuli Venezia-Giulia.

Is there some way we might reverse the process here in the States. We always seem to have an abundance of candidates – most of whom would damage society beyond repair if elected.