Slobodan Milosevic, 2000
Slobodan Milosevic committed much larger offenses than election fraud -- genocide and crimes against humanity top the list -- but that didn't stop the longtime Serbian strongman from trying to skew the polls when they weren't going his way.
On Sept. 24, 2000, voters in Yugoslavia went to the ballot box to elect their next president -- the first time they had done so -- in a move widely seen as an attempt by Milosevic to secure his hold on power. But something unexpected happened: The famously fractious Serbian opposition united behind one candidate, the constitutional lawyer Vojislav Kostunica, and drubbed Milosevic at the ballot box. While the opposition claimed to have won 55 percent of the vote, the government-controlled election commission asserted that Kostunica had failed to win a majority -- thus requiring a second round.
The ruling sparked fury on the streets of Belgrade, and hundreds of thousands of Serbians took to the streets to demand Milosevic's immediate resignation. When it became clear that the army would not keep him in power, Milosevic conceded to the popular will.
"I would also like to thank those who did not vote for me because they took a huge weight off my chest, the burden of responsibility which I have carried for a full 10 years," he said in his vainglorious resignation speech. "I personally intend to rest a bit and spend some more time with my family."
That last hope, however, was not to be. Less than a year later, Milosevic was imprisoned and transferred to the custody of the United Nations, where he stood trial for crimes committed during the Kosovo War. He would die of a heart attack in his prison cell six years later.
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