⁍ Romanian villagers have re-elected their mayor by a landslide even though he died two weeks ago from COVID-19 complications.

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⁍ A video shared on social media showed dozens of villagers visiting the grave of Ion Aliman, a Social Democrat, to light candles.

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⁍ Aliman won his third term as mayor of Deveselu, a village of around 3,000 people in southern Romania, with 64% of the vote.

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– Ion Aliman had been the mayor of the Romanian village of Deveselu for three terms. But the 57-year-old died two weeks ago of complications from a brain infection, and villagers decided he deserved a fourth term. “He was a real mayor to us,” a woman in a surgical mask tells a TV station, per Reuters. “He took the side of the village, respected all the laws. I don’t think we will see a mayor like him again.” With 64% of the vote, Aliman won Sunday’s election by a landslide, the AP reports. “It is your victory,’ one man can be heard saying. “Know that you will be proud of us. Rest in peace.” A video shared on social media shows villagers visiting Aliman’s grave and lighting candles. “He was a real mayor to us,” says the woman in the surgical mask. “He took the side of the village, respected all the laws. I don’t think we will see a mayor like him again.” A new election will be held. In 2008, a village in eastern Romania also knowingly re-elected their mayor who had died just after voting began. Despite Aliman’s victory, his Social Democrat Party lost key cities and county councils across Romania on Sunday to the centrist minority Liberal government and USR-Plus, an alliance of two center-right groupings. Romania has reported 123,944 COVID-19 infections since late February, with 4,748 deaths.