HOME > AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL > Article
Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
A straw poll at Harry's Bar in Paris, famous for calling US elections with uncanny accuracy, celebrates its centenary this year as Americans again flock to the drinking hole ahead of the November vote.
So long as they are US passport holders, patrons get to cast a symbolic vote at a ballot box set up at the bar in the Opera district of the French capital.
Founded in 1911, Harry's Bar claims to be Europe's oldest cocktail bar and to have invented the Bloody Mary.
Once a regular haunt of literary greats Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, actor Humphrey Bogart and jazzman Cole Porter, it still attracts famous people, such as bestselling author Douglas Kennedy who on Monday cast the election year's first ballot here.
It's an interesting tradition, said Timothy Zeller, an American tourist. They haven't always been right, but they've been right more than they've been wrong.
The outcome of the Harry's Bar vote has, in fact, diverged from the actual US election result only three times since the tradition started in 1924: In 1976, when Jimmy Carter became president, in 2004 when George W. Bush was re-elected and in 2016, when Donald Trump won the White House.
My mind is made up, said American literary critic Steven Sampson, a Paris resident casting his ballot at Harry's for the first time.
He told AFP he was curious to see whether the straw poll will get it right again when Kamala Harris faces off against Trump on November 5.
To pass the time until the result, patrons can sample two cocktail creations inspired by the candidates, the Trumpet -- on the menu since Trump's 2016 campaign -- and the Kamala Harry's Bar.
Back in the 1920s American expatriates could not vote in presidential elections because there was no absentee voting, said bar manager Franz-Arthur MacElhone.
His great-grandfather Harry MacElhone decided to give Americans in Paris the chance to vote symbolically and have a party to overcome their frustration at not being allowed to participate in the real thing.
American expatriates tend to favour Democratic candidates, but visiting tourists can easily make the pendulum swing the other way.
In the weeks leading up to the November 5 contest, Harry's Bar posts the current score every Wednesday.
On election night the final result will be announced just after voting ends in the US, and well before the new president is declared back home.
(2024/10/11 17:33)
Click Here for Japanese TranslationAFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL
- 10/11 17:33 Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- 10/11 17:27 MLB Twins up for sale after 40 years
- 10/11 15:26 Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasfire
- 10/11 15:16 A very stiff breeze-- BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- 10/11 15:15 Federer lauds retiring Nadal's 'incredible achievements'
- 10/11 15:13 UN probe accuses Israel of seeking to 'destroy' Gaza healthcare
- 10/10 18:12 As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- 10/10 18:09 Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970-- WWF
- 10/10 18:07 McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- 10/10 18:05 Biden slams Trump for 'onslaught of lies' over hurricanes
- 10/10 16:55 Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- 10/10 16:53 Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool-- state agency
- 10/09 21:59 Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- 10/09 21:53 Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- 10/09 21:45 Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- 10/09 17:38 Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- 10/09 17:03 Syria says seven civilians killed in Israel Damascus strike
- 10/09 17:00 Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- 10/08 20:26 Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- 10/08 18:23 Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- 10/08 18:21 Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- 10/08 18:08 Harris-- 'Of course' I've fired my Glock
- 10/08 18:06 Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- 10/08 17:02 Trump-- immigrants bringing 'bad genes' into US
- 10/07 17:13 Rescuers say 17 dead in Gaza as Israel troops encircle Jabaliya
- 10/07 17:10 Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- 10/07 17:06 In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- 10/07 17:03 Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- 10/07 17:00 Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- 10/07 16:55 India asks top court to heed marital rape leniency
- 10/04 19:25 Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- 10/04 19:22 Sinner not 'comfortable' as doping case clouds Shanghai campaign
- 10/04 19:19 Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- 10/04 19:18 Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 10/04 16:53 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- 10/03 19:32 Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 10/03 19:29 'Heartbreaking'-- Biden, Harris tour storm areas as deaths surpass 160
- 10/03 19:28 Deadly Israeli strike on central Beirut after soldiers killed
- 10/03 19:26 NBA legend Jordan files anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR
- 10/03 19:25 South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- 10/03 19:24 Hamas claims Tel Aviv shooting attack that killed seven