(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) An Alabama state law permits county and state elections that end in a tied vote to be decided by drawing lots, tossing coins or other similar methods, Alabama News reported.
A few years ago in Alabama’s Clay County, a race between Jim Studdard and Henry Lambert for the Sheriff’s Department was decided by a coin toss. Studdard took the win, and is now being challenged again by Lambert.
The third contender in the Sheriff’s race, Johnny Hamlin, did not make the coin toss, but is unsure what to make of their next three-way match for the same office.
“They are still talking about that coin toss,” said Hamlin. “If it goes to a three-way tie, I don’t know, will we have an arm-wrestling match?”
Most states require special elections or second runoffs in the event of a tie, but not in Alabama.
“It can be quite expensive, and you have to open the [polling sites] in that district, and get all of the poll workers,” said state Rep. Sam Jones, who is the sponsor of HB144.
This bill would eliminate the requirement of a runoff election when only two candidates are seeking office and finish in a tie vote.
“Because it’s so rare for this to happen, then casting lots seems to be more appropriate,” Jones concluded.
Many upper-level state officials are in support of this law, including Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, citing cost savings as their main reasoning.
The estimate to hold a special election in Mobile, which is in Rep. Jones’s district, is around $134,000.
Merrill also noted that the candidates and the county sheriff get to decide the kind of game that decides the winner.
“It could be a roll of a dice, high card or rock-paper-scissors,” explained Merril. In the event of a coin toss, he said “the sheriff is responsible for flipping the coin.”
While this new bill may seem unorthodox, it is not entirely unprecedented—Alabama is one of 28 states that allow lots to be drawn for state and county contests.
The fate of the city of Show Low, Arizona, was decided by a low draw in cards.
Neptune Beach, Florida, decided their city counselor by drawing names out of a hat, with the winner of that calling-in the subsequent coin flip and the winner of that choosing who would go first or second in a random drawing of numbered ping-pong balls.
Hamlin, the Clay County sheriff hopeful, said he thinks a repeat of 2018′s tied vote is a long shot, but should not be discounted.
“I guess we do it like the old cowboy days and like Clint Eastwood by standing out in the cemetery to see who can draw the fastest,” Hamlin jokingly said. “That would be a real game of chance.”
