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Recount confirms tie in PCO contest

The winner of the election will be decided by coin flip

By Katy Sword, Columbian politics reporter
Published: August 29, 2018, 8:41pm

The Clark County Elections Office conference room was silent but for the shuffle of paper and anticipation Wednesday morning as the recount for Precinct Committee Officer 692 got underway.

Two staffers embarked on an intricate dance of sorting, counting and counting again that lasted 18 minutes.

Just more than 200 ballots were the subject of the day’s event — 203 to be exact — but in the end, the results were the same. The race with just 98 votes remains a tie. Republicans Sean Emerson and Carolyn Simpson both received 49 votes and 105 ballots were either left unmarked or without a clear vote for either candidate.

The next step is a coin flip.

Auditor Greg Kimsey, who is tasked with completing the coin flip, said this is only the second time in his tenure that an election has resulted in a tie and required such action.

Recounts are more frequent, but those instances often occur when a race has a likely winner and loser. A recount takes place and the likely winner is confirmed. But the results in this particular race remain the same.

The elections office reached out to the candidates Wednesday and plans to schedule the deciding flip at a time when both Emerson and Simpson are available. But as Cathie Garber, elections supervisor, noted, staff are hoping to resolve the issue within the next week or so.

“We’re already moving on to the November election, and we want to put this to bed and get going,” she said.

In theory, the event could be scheduled as far out as November, but elections staff have the right to pick the date and time.

“It’s just a courtesy to the candidates to try to accommodate their schedule, but it if is not practical, we will just announce a date and do it then,” Kimsey said.

The details of the coin flip are not yet hammered out. Kimsey said they might choose who gets to call the flip with a preliminary flip.

The election event is also open to the public, as was Wednesday’s recount, which garnered three onlookers.

“The more people observe the more people have confidence,” Kimsey added. “It’s the ultimate test of the process.”

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Columbian politics reporter