The winner of the Mount Clemens Community Schools Trustee race was decided after a coin toss and a drawing.
Rashidah Hammond and Alex Bronson received 3,496 votes in the four-person race during the election.
According to Michigan Election Law Act 116 of 1954, the winner of a tiebreaker in local and state races is determined by lot.
Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini executed the finale of the school board race Wednesday (Nov. 20).
Forlini used a very special coin for the coin toss to start the process of determining who drew first.
The coin was gifted to him by the mayor of a town in Italy where Forlini’s dad is from.
“I was actually looking for a quarter originally. Who carries change anywhere?” said Forlini.
Hammond won the coin toss and drew first from the bin that had slips marked “elected” and “not elected.”
She picked the sheet marked elected, which made her the winner.
“The lesson is every vote matters. Every vote counts,” Forlini said.
Michigan isn’t alone in deciding elections with a drawing following a tie.
“50-50 chance, right? What are you going to do, spend money on another election? You can’t do that. So, this is the way to break the tie,” Forlini said.
Josh Pasek, a professor of Communication & Media and Political Science at the University of Michigan, describes a drawing for breaking a tie in an election as pretty reasonable.
“At the end of the day, when there is a tie election, there needs to be some method for adjudicating. It is not uncommon in these situations for ties to get resolved using some kind of random process,” Pasek said in a statement.
Bronson has until Friday (Nov. 22) to ask for a recount.
Bronson told Local 4 that although he is disappointed, he’s OK with how the race was decided.
“Alex, in his loss, was very gracious to Rashidah,” Forlini said.
Hammond, who couldn’t be reached for comment by Thursday afternoon, will be seated as a school board member in December.