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John Oliver’s Backing of Puking Mullet Bird Derails New Zealand ‘Bird of the Century’ Contest

Organizers of the annual ballot have been forced to delay the result.

The organizers of an annual contest in New Zealand in which the country votes for its favorite bird have been forced to delay announcing the winner this year after comedian John Oliver endorsed one of the candidates. The competition is run by conservation group Forest and Bird and is usually billed as Bird of the Year, but this year will be a Bird of the Century vote to mark the organization’s centennial. On Last Week Tonight, Oliver launched a campaign supporting the pūteketeke—which he described as “weird, puking birds with colorful mullets.” He added that the U.S. interfering in foreign elections “is what democracy is all about.” Forest and Bird Chief Executive Nicola Toki said vote checkers have had no choice but to take two extra days to verify the hundreds of thousands of votes cast before the deadline on Sunday (the previous record for votes was 56,000). “It’s been pretty crazy, in the best possible way,” Toki said.