Much has been written about the Two legislative races that appear headed for automatic recounts, especially the contest in HD8B, where controversial first-year legislator Mary Franson beat her opponent by one vote.
The unofficial result could change with a recount, but neither Franson and Cunniff are going through what two Meeker County Commissioner candidates are experiencing: a flat-out tie.
Carolyn Lange of the West Central Tribune reports in Meeker Co., Minn., weighs options for tie vote in race:
Meeker County Auditor Barb Loch was consulting with state officials Wednesday to determine the correct action to take to resolve a tie vote for the District 2 seat on the County Board of Commissioners.Incumbent David Gabrielson and his challenger Dale Fenrich each had 1,069 votes, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s website.
The county canvassing board is scheduled to begin its task on Friday. . . .
Because this is a county office and not a state office, there are different rules that apply for determining a winner, said Loch. The county attorney was also expected to weigh in on the issue.
There's more in Incumbents fall in County Board race, the Litchfield Independend Review's coverage of the Meeker Board contests:
If it holds a tie, the District 2 contest between challenger Dale Fenrich and incumbent Dave Gabrielson could come down to a coin flip, according to Meeker County Auditor Barb Loch.
Loch said she tentatively expects to conduct a recount on Friday. State law authorizes a coin flip, or a lot drawing, to determine a winner, she said.
On Wednesday, Gabrielson said he would accept the outcome of a coin flip, but he opposed the process. “If they got to flip a coin, fine. I’ll flip a coin. But that’s not a way to handle it in public government,” he said.
Regardless of the outcome of his race, Fenrich described the defeat of at least three incumbents as “exciting.”
As for the rest of the incumbents, there's an interesting back story there. Meeker County Republicans recommended two candidates, first-term incumbent Tim Benoit and challenger Mike Housman, according to party emails forwarded to Bluestem. The Republican "recommendation" and access to party resources failed to help Benoit, who fell to the anti-incumbency movement against the board in Meeker County. Benoit himself had knocked off a moderate Republican incumbent in 2010.
it might be possible that a recount breaks the tie, but if not, Meeker County will be served by the fellow with the best luck. While every vote may count in close elections, it looks like none of them count at all in local ties.
It that was me, I would not do a coin toss and go with a random draw from a deck of cards. Aces high btw! :-)
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Nov 09, 2012 at 09:53 AM