Dottie Deans, chair of the Windsor County Democratic Committee, reports on the results of the House recount between Sarah Buxton (D) vs David Ainsworth (R). You might remember, this is the one that had a margin of two votes, and then another ballot was found, bringing the margin to one vote.:
Recount for Royalton/Tunbridge tie 880-880 as of 1:00pm! Now up to Judge Hayes!
There are states where the results of a tied election are resolved by a game of chance, like cutting a deck of cards. What about Vermont?
§ 2602k. After the recount (a) If the recount results in a tie, the court shall order a recessed election to be held, within three weeks of the recount, on a date set by the court. The only candidates who shall appear on the ballot at the recessed election shall be those who tied in the previous election. The recessed election shall be considered a separate election for the purpose of voter registration under chapter 43 of this title. . . . Warnings for a recessed election shall be posted as required by subchapter 5 of this chapter, except that the warnings shall be posted not less than 10 days before the recessed election. The conduct of a recessed election shall be as provided in this chapter for general elections.
(b) After the recount, the county clerk shall seal the ballots and other materials back in the containers and store them in the county clerk's vault until returned to the towns. The county clerk shall return all ballots to the respective town clerks after issuance of the court's judgment, together with a copy of the judgment. The state police shall transport the ballots to the towns from which they came.
(c) The court shall send a certified copy of the judgment to the secretary of state.
(Added 1985, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)
I don't recall ever seeing one of these do-over elections, but the law appears to be pretty clear. I assume there will be a challenge to the results to avoid having to rerun the election, but that's what it's looking like to me.
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Or a free-throw? Rock-sissors-paper anyone? Flip a coin, draw straws, or pick a number from one to one hundred.
Those must be two weary candidates!
20 paces!
Or maybe a round of Jeopardy?
Judge Hayes ruled today that the contested ballot for Sarah — an absentee that was printed differently — should in fact be counted, essentially affirming her 1-vote lead from the original tally.
Suffice to say, there are quite a bunch of us thrilled and relieved at this news in equal measure. =) After reading your post this morning, Jack, I’d been psyching myself up for a whirlwind “run-off” all day!
But for now… a celebration is definitely in order. Three cheers for Buxton!