Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County Clerk Ellen White hands over tallied ballots to District Judge Albert Mitchell Jr. during a recount Nov. 30 of two tied Village of House races. The recounts affirmed the ties, and winners will be determined by a game of chance at the village hall on Monday before the 4:30 p.m. council meeting.
An official recount last week of two Village of House councilor races confirmed what was reported the night of the Nov. 2 election - ties.
The winners of those races now will be determined by a draw of cards by each deadlocked candidate at the start of the village's regular board meeting at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the House Municipal Building. Those candidates will take the oath of office after that, administered by Quay County Clerk Ellen White.
Anita Allen and Steven Foust finished with 17 votes apiece during the election for the second position of two councilor-at-large seats in Positions 1 and 2. Matthew Cramblet was the outright winner of one position, with 24 votes.
For the Village of House councilor at large seat for Position 3, Ronald McGee and incumbent John Snipes also were tied with 19 votes each.
About 30 minutes of counting by two Democrats and two Republicans from Quay County precinct boards in the county commission chambers the morning of Nov. 30 affirmed the ties during the election.
"Allen and Foust are still tied," summarized District Judge Albert Mitchell Jr., who oversaw the recounts along with White.
After examining documents from the second race, he added: "Snipes-McGee is still tied."
With that, Mitchell laid out the rules for a game of chance to determine the winners. Each candidate will draw from a deck of cards, where aces are high and suits do not matter. The highest cards drawn from each of the contested races will determine the winners.
The game of chance could occur no earlier than Dec. 7. White then confirmed the Monday meeting in phone calls with House officials.
Regarding the House races remaining tied, "it was nothing I didn't expect," White said, noting a recent random audit of 2% of voting precinct results statewide found zero discrepancies.
White couldn't recall how long ago her office oversaw a recount, but it had been a while. One involved a city commission race, and the other a school board election. Both were ties.
The only House candidate to attend the recount was Snipes, who watched quietly from one of the pews in the commission chambers.
"I was curious to see it all," he said afterward. "It was the first time I'd watched that."