A Wisconsin town settled an election tie with a dice roll after also considering pulling names from a hat and drawing straws
- A village in Wisconsin had a tie in their April election for village board president.
- Sister Bay decided to determine the next president with a dice roll.
A town in Wisconsin decided its next village board president with a dice roll after a tie between the top two candidates, the BBC reported.
Nate Bell beat incumbent Rob Zoschke as the Sister Bay Village Board president after the dice rolled 6-2 in his favor, the BBC reported. Both candidates had been tied with 256 votes.
"All of us wish that one more person had voted," Village Board of Canvassers member Mary Smythe told NBC26.
Heidi Teich, the village's clerk, told NBC26 that when ties happen in the very small town, the tiebreaker is something random, such as pulling names from a hat, cutting a deck of cards, drawing straws, or flipping a coin.
"It's drawn a lot of interest because it's such an unusual thing," Teich told the BBC. "For it to be settled with a children's game is kind of unique."
This isn't the first time that an election has been determined by chance. This past December, a Richmond, California city council seat was determined by a name draw after two candidates, Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda, both recieved 1,921 votes, KGO reported. In Isleton, another small California town, a city council race last November was determined by a coin flip after two candidates tied, CBS News reported.
Smythe told NBC26 the incident shows why it's important to vote.
"Our nation, our democracy depends on informed and active citizens," Smythe said.