Dear Action Line: I’m guessing this came up at some point during the recent Durango City Council election vote counting. What happens if there’s a tie? It’s of course incredibly unlikely, but we almost saw it happen! Is there something in the city or county or state statutes that covers this? – Mrs. Action Line
Dear Mrs. Action Line: Action Line already told you the answer, so we’re done, right? Do we really care about the other 50 million Action Line readers? What, they’re important too?
All right then. On we go.
Despite what many of us might have assumed, no, Action Line does not get to pick the winner in case of a City Council tie. There is a much more intelligent, elegant way to break a tie.
First, the background, in case you were too busy Facebooking and Instagraming and Tik-tokking with your friends to pay attention to the important events going on around you.
After candidates’ solicitation, election night consternation, post-election curation, and the subtraction of any duplication, this was the situation when the final tabulation was announced on April 14:
Harrison Wendt was freed to go live a normal life, and Dave Woodruff was assessed a four-year judgment to sit weekly on the lofty dais at council chambers. Gilda Yazzie, with 2,714 votes, had already claimed a seat as of the April 4 election day.
The final tally showed Woodruff with 2,435 votes and Wendt with 2,431 votes. That’s a 0.16% difference. That’s close. If two of those Woodruff votes were switched to Wendt votes – boom! – there’s your tie. How many of you thought about doing that? Or thought about voting for Wendt but never got around to it?
Because it’s Durango, maybe a tie could be settled by a race on skis or bikes? (But would it be downhill or cross country?) A Wild West shootout? (Better sharpen up on your six-gun skills, future candidates.) Is there a more official method?
“Great question and yes, this was asked a couple of times during this election,” said Tiffany Lee, La Plata County Clerk and Recorder.
The answer, Lee divulged, is in Colorado Revised Statute 1-11-102, which Action Line is going to ask you to read: “If any two or more candidates tie for the highest number of votes for the same office and if there are not enough offices remaining for all the candidates, the board of canvassers shall determine by lot the person who shall be elected. Reasonable notice shall be given to the candidates who are involved of the time when the election will be determined.”
Said Lee: “When it refers to ‘by lot,’ that is exactly what you are thinking – coin toss, high card, draw straws, etc.”
Turns out that Lee is ready not only for a game of poker or cribbage, but for breaking an election tie.
“I have a brand-new deck of cards in my desk drawer for this purpose,” she said. “In my 27-year career it has only happened one time while I was working in Deschutes County Clerk’s office in the late ’90s in Bend, Oregon. Fire board had a tied race. We had them draw high card.”
Not quite as exciting as a gun draw, but less messy for sure.
So if Action Line has the facts straight, a gun draw happened after the 1800 U.S. presidential election when Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied with 73 electoral votes each. Burr then dueled Alexander Hamilton and killed him, so that meant Jefferson won.
Yeah, not quite. Let’s get those facts aligned.
The famous duel didn’t occur until 1804. Burr, vice president at the time, did of course best Hamilton in an exchange settled with Wogdon & Barton pistols, which were manufactured specifically for dueling. Yes, dueling used to be a popular sport, even though you couldn’t set up a loser’s bracket and participation trophies were a complete waste. The Burr-Hamilton affair was the country’s highest-profile duel of all time, and might make a good climactic scene for a Broadway musical someday.
Back in 1800, the electoral tie was settled by the House of Representatives, which obstinately cast 36 tie votes before someone went home for dinner and Jefferson was finally elected and placed on the nickel, ponytail and all.
What would happen if there was an Electoral College tie today? The country would probably disintegrate into complete chaos, but what’s apparently supposed to happen is each state’s House delegation would get one vote. So it could go 30-20, or 26-24. Or – yikes! – 25-25, in which case the vice president, who would be elected by the Senate, would become president until the House could settle its deadlock.
And hopefully Tiffany Lee would show up with a deck of cards.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Fun trivia: From the Weehawken Dueling Grounds in New Jersey, where Burr and Hamilton faced off, one can see the Manhattan skyline.
