While many in the US are suspicious of inflated votes for Biden that seem to have mysteriously showed up overnight, the quaint country of New Zealand is undergoing a similar controversy.

The island nation, known mostly for hobbits and for not being Australia, hosts an annual "Bird of the Year" contest, wherein participants are invited to vote for their favorite birds!

New Zealand is like being transported back through time. But that's mainly because apparently they still have a video store.

This year, approximately 1,500 fraudulent votes for the spotted kiwi suspiciously popped up overnight!

Thankfully, they were able to spot and disqualify the illegitimate votes right away. Because apparently New Zealand is a bit more on top of things than some countries.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened; it happened in 2015, 2017, and 2018, but they caught them every time! Of course, my theory is it also happened in 2016, but nobody got caught.

I mean, look at that dumb bird. He doesn't deserve any prizes. He's just a dumb bird.

So yeah, people are really out trying to rig bird contests in NZ.

That said, I still have so many questions:

• What makes one bird more worthy of being named Bird of the Year than its competitors?
• What qualities or accomplishments are considered when evaluating a bird's worthiness?
• Are there known "swing districts" that determine the winner at the last minute?
• Would bird puns or Lord of the Rings puns have been more appropriate for this article?
• Why would anybody choose a Bird of the Year that isn't a bald eagle?