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Race cannot be decided until after official canvassing on Nov. 15

COLUMBUS—With five provisional votes still out and the Columbus council third seat within two and three votes, a tie is a possibility. 

The Polk County Board of Election meets Friday at 8:30 a.m. to verify the outstanding provisional votes. 

If there is a tie, which could happen two or three ways, the board will still have to canvass the votes until any decisions on the winner are decided. 

Brent Jackson secured a seat on council with 92 votes and incumbent Mark Phillips secured a seat with 76 votes. There could be a tie for Phillips’ seat, however, depending on the provisional votes. The third seat is up in the air as incumbent Richard Hall currently has 71 votes, newcomer Steve E. Christopher has 69 votes and incumbent Margaret Metcalf has 68 votes, according to unofficial results as of Tuesday night. 

Polk County Board of Election Director Cliff Marr said if there is a tie for the third seat, the board of elections will still have to canvass the votes on Nov. 15 before a winner is declared. 

“No recounts or other procedures can happen until then,” he said. 

If the numbers held after the canvassing at a tie, there would first be a machine recount if requested by the candidates, which is expected. After the machine recount if the numbers are still tied, the candidates could then request a hand-eye recount. 

After the hand-eye recount, if the numbers are still tied, there would be a random selection by some method to determine the winner of the third seat. 

State statute 163-292, titled, “Determination of election results in cities using the plurality method,” says in the event two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, the board of elections will determine the winner by lot. 

The method of lot is described as an object used in deciding a matter by chance, a number of these being placed in a container and then drawn or cast out at random one by one, according to dictionary.com. 

The statute regarding deciding a tie by lot is only applicable for non-partisan elections, such as municipal elections. Partisan elections, such as county commissioners or state offices, would be determined in the event of a tie by a run-off election. 

The statute regarding non-partisan elections specifically states that when more than one person is seeking election to a single office, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. 

When more persons are seeking election to two or more offices (constituting a group), states the statute, than there are offices to be filled, those candidates receiving the highest number of votes, equal in number to the number of offices to be filled, shall be declared elected. 

“If two or more candidates receiving the highest number of votes each receive the same number of votes, the board of elections shall determine the winner by lot,” states N.C. Statute 163-292. 

Columbus faced a similar situation during the 2017 election between Phillips and Jackson. There were three provisional votes in 2017 remaining and Phillips was winning 79-76 votes as of Election night. Phillips took the seat without the need for a tie-breaker in 2017 following the certification of the provisional votes. 

The last instance known of breaking a tie was drawing a name out of a hat. Another method could be a coin toss. It is not known yet how a possible three-way tie would be broken. If there is a tie, the candidates will all have to agree which method of lot to use.