Surely you're aware of the hallowed American tradition of "Fat Bear Week," where hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens bet on which bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park will put on the most blubber before winter.
Well, we regret to inform you that that hallowed American tradition has this year been hit with a time-honored American scandal: Voter malfeasance!
The winner of "Fat Bear Week" has been crowned — after a contest that included both salmon stuffing and ballot stuffing.
A bulky bruin named "Bear 747" was named the 2022 champ in the competition to see which bear had gained the most pre-hibernation weight among a group of hulking local ursines in Alaska's Katmai National Park. ...
But the victory for the massive male bear — who experts say could be as much as 1,400 pounds — was not without controversy, as park officials accused Twitter users of trying to stuff the ballot box with thousands of spam votes in favor of 747's opponent in the semi-finals.
It's a national disgrace, believe me. Here's a park spokesbear just a few weeks ago assuring the public of Fat Bear Week's ironclad voter security:
And here's an official government rep throwing cold water on that myth:
Park workers ended up finding over 9,000 spam votes cast for a rival, female bruin named Bear 435, according to NPR.
...
After the vote trouble in the semi-finals, Bear 747 — who is also known as "Bear Force One" — eventually went on to become heavyweight champ by besting a lady bruin named Bear 901 in the final round, 68,085 votes to 56,857, Fox reported.
