2008 Woodie Awards
Clerk will draw name to break tie
Jessie Gasch
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
It's an unusual raffle, with just two entrants and a prize of three years of work.
When Adair County Clerk Sandy Collop draws a name next Tuesday evening, the winner will get a term on the Kirksville R-III school board. Candidates Kim Bailey and Jason Denslow, both currently serving on the board, tied for third place in the April 8 election. Either Denslow or Bailey, who each received 1,968 votes, will end up filling the third vacant school board slot.
"I thought, 'Only me, just my luck,'" Bailey said.
But she, like Denslow, said she thinks pulling names from a hat is the best solution.
"I really do think it's the only fair thing," she said. "Neither one of us wanted to call it [quits]."
School board president Michael McManis said one candidate conceding the race is just one of the three options in situations like these: Ties also can be resolved through a special runoff election or through a casting of lots.
"The candidates have to make the choice - the school boards do not make the choice," McManis said. "And the default choice is a special election."
But a special run-off would cost the city about $11,000 and could not take place until at least April 22, he said.
"As an alternative, the candidates, if they both agree, they can agree to a casting of lots, which means basically they're flipping a coin or drawing names," McManis said.
He said Missouri law does not permit a recount of the election results. The relevant state statute allows candidates who have lost a school board election by less than 1 percent to request a recount but says nothing on school board election ties, McManis said.
"As an alternative to [a runoff election], if the candidates who received an equal number of votes in such election agree, ... [the responsible office] may ... determine the winner of such election by lot. Any candidate who received an equal number of votes may decline to have his name put into such drawing," according to chapter 115, section 517 of the Missouri Revised Statutes.
When Adair County Clerk Sandy Collop draws a name next Tuesday evening, the winner will get a term on the Kirksville R-III school board. Candidates Kim Bailey and Jason Denslow, both currently serving on the board, tied for third place in the April 8 election. Either Denslow or Bailey, who each received 1,968 votes, will end up filling the third vacant school board slot.
"I thought, 'Only me, just my luck,'" Bailey said.
But she, like Denslow, said she thinks pulling names from a hat is the best solution.
"I really do think it's the only fair thing," she said. "Neither one of us wanted to call it [quits]."
School board president Michael McManis said one candidate conceding the race is just one of the three options in situations like these: Ties also can be resolved through a special runoff election or through a casting of lots.
"The candidates have to make the choice - the school boards do not make the choice," McManis said. "And the default choice is a special election."
But a special run-off would cost the city about $11,000 and could not take place until at least April 22, he said.
"As an alternative, the candidates, if they both agree, they can agree to a casting of lots, which means basically they're flipping a coin or drawing names," McManis said.
He said Missouri law does not permit a recount of the election results. The relevant state statute allows candidates who have lost a school board election by less than 1 percent to request a recount but says nothing on school board election ties, McManis said.
"As an alternative to [a runoff election], if the candidates who received an equal number of votes in such election agree, ... [the responsible office] may ... determine the winner of such election by lot. Any candidate who received an equal number of votes may decline to have his name put into such drawing," according to chapter 115, section 517 of the Missouri Revised Statutes.
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