People are voting to elect a Cat for political office

Residents in the Siberian town of Barnaul are pushing for an 18-month Scottish cat named Barsik to become their new mayor.

Huffington Post reported that the cat won 91 percent of the 5,400 votes against six human rivals.

The people also launched a crowdsourcing campaign to raise a billboard in the center of the city that says “Only mice don’t vote for Barsik!” with a picture of the feline candidate next to it, according to The Guardian.

But despite surging ahead in online polls, Barsik can't get elected mayor, and not just because he's a cat. The mayor will be appointed by regional governor Alexander Karlin and the city council, CNN reports.

The 700,000 residents of Barnaul are tired of human leaders after its former administrator, Igor Savintsev, resigned last August after allegations that he abused his power and embezzled funds meant for the state.

Online commenters however said voting for a cat would be an advantage.

“What the cat could steal at most is Whiskas (a brand of cat food)," said one comment, as translated by CNN.

Another read, "By Barsik's eyes I see he is concerned about the people."

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