With the midterms right around the corner, now is a great time to take a closer look at a newly enacted Alabama bill relating to runoff elections. A runoff election is a second election held to determine a winner when no candidate in the first election met the required threshold for victory. Depending on the election and where the election is held, the threshold required for victory can be different and can range from the election ended in a tie, to a candidate did not get over X% of the vote. Runoff elections can be held for both primary elections and general elections.
Some states allow for alternate ways to decide runoff elections besides a completely new election. Alabama is one of those states. A few years ago, two opponents in a Clay County, Alabama sheriff election flipped a coin to break a 2,680-vote tie to decide who became sheriff of Clay County. This year, James “Jim” Studdard and Henry Lambert are running against each other again, along with a third opponent, Johnny Hamlin. When asked about how the last election was decided, Hamlin said, "They are still talking about that coin toss. If it goes to a three-way tie, I don’t know, will we have an arm-wrestling match?”
This week, a look at what "decided by drawing lots" means, what Alabama's newly enacted bill does, and states with similar games of chance deciding elections.
Some Quick Definitions
What is the difference between state and municipal elections? State elections are any non-Federal elections held solely, or in part, for selecting, nominating, or electing any candidate for any State office. These types of elections include those for: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Attorney General, State Legislator, or on issues of Statewide interest.
Municipalities are typically subordinate to a county government. Municipal elections are elections related to a city, town, or its governing body. The most types of municipal elections are ones held to elect governing officials (mayor, city council, town council, etc.) of the city, village, or town. Many municipalities hold these elections on odd-numbered years.
Next, what does "drawing lots" mean? Drawing, or casting, lots is a method of making a chance decision by using lots (straws or pebbles etc.) that are thrown or drawn. In 1778, the word lotto was created to describe the name of a bingo-like game of chance. It borrowed the word lot from Old English and Old Frisian lot which referenced the drawing of numbers to match those on the cards. The meaning "a lottery, a game of chance" is attested from 1827. It has evolved over time to mean a game of chance, like rock-paper-scissors, coin flips, or a dice roll.
What does HB144 Do?
Alabama HB144 makes municipal elections around the state consistent with state and county contests. Previous Alabama state law allowed county and state elections which end in a tie vote to be decided by "drawing lots", which as we know, is by a game of chance. HB144 removes the requirement of a second or a runoff election when only two candidates are seeking office and finish in a tie vote.
Under HB144, "If the municipal governing body fails to break the tie, the elected candidate shall be decided by lot by the judge of probate of the county where the city or town hall." If the probate judge "openly participated in the promotion of candidates" who are part of the tied election, they are disqualified from overseeing the random game. In this case, the presiding circuit court judge within the city or town hall will replace them and "break the tie by lot".
State Rep. Sam Jones (D), sponsor of HB144, had this to say for the reasoning behind this bill, "It can be quite expensive, and you have to open the (polling sites) in that district, and get all of the poll workers. Because it’s so rare for this to happen, then casting lots seems to be more appropriate."
In 2018, the Special Election for State Senate between Doug Jones and Roy Moore cost almost $50 million dollars. In a study that looked into 18 elections in Alabama from 2002 to 2012, they found there were around 40 million unused ballots, costing the state about 14 million dollars (ballots cost on average 35 cents each). The report also states that State and county finance reports revealed that statewide elections over the last ten years costed about $128 million dollars, with ballots and supplies account for around half of those costs. Ballotpedia has a page that outlines the costs of administering local elections from around the United States. These range from $16,000 for a recall of Ridgefield, New Jersey Mayor, to $42,000 for an Ohio Income Tax and Bond measure, to $280,000 for a San Mateo County Hotel tax.
State Rep. Jaime Kiel (R), one of the three House Reps who voted against the legislation, stated "I would not want an important local race to be decided by another local official or in some random selection process. I believe that the citizens should make the decision on who best represents their interests." He was joined by James Hanes (R) and Ritchie Whorton (R). The bill unanmously passed the Senate in early April and was signed into law April 7th this year.
Do other States have Similar Legislation?
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has a great resource discussing what each of the 50 states do to resolve tied elections for legislative offices.
At a high level: 28 states determine winners by drawing of lots or similar random methods.
- States that use a similar method to Alabama include: Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- In Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, a tie vote triggers a recount. If the race is still tied after the recount, the state then determines the winner by drawing lots
- In Texas, a tie vote first triggers a recount. If the race is still tied after the recount, a special election is called no earlier than the 20th day or later than the 30th day after the final canvass is completed. The tying candidates may agree to cast lots or one candidate may resolve the tie by withdrawing from the race instead of holding a special election
- Idaho specifically states that tied elections must be decided by coin toss while Iowa requires drawing names written on paper
- California and Colorado have their their secretary of the state resolve the tie by lot
- In Mississippi, the winner of a tie vote is determined by lot. The loser of a tiebreaker can appeal to the legislature for final resolution
- In Utah, an election officer breaks a tie by lot in a public meeting in the presence of each person subject to the tie
Other States Break Down like:
- 14 states consider that a tie vote means no candidate won the seat, and a new election is called
- Montana, Tennessee, and West Virginia determine winners by having the winner selected either by the governor or by the state board of elections
- Nevada and New Hampshire determine winners by a joint vote of the state legislature
- North Carolina bifurcates its tiebreaking system: if a state legislative election involves fewer than 5,000 votes, the tie is broken by the canvassing board which oversaw the election. If a state legislative election involves greater than 5,000 votes, a special election is held between the tied candidates
- New Jersey does not have a statute governing the breaking of tie votes. Instead, either tied candidate may petition for a recount or contest the election results
What do you think about this method of deciding tied elections? I had never heard of it before and it is super interesting to me!
Cover Photo by Edge2Edge Media on Unsplash
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