When Representative Tammy Townley discovered that the tie between two Carter County Sheriff candidates would come down to drawing a name out of a hat, she says she began working on changing that practice.
“I had no idea that we still had archaic practices like this on the books,” Townley said. “I had assumed, as I suspect many others did as well, that this race would proceed to a runoff. I was shocked to learn that a race could be decided by a game of chance rather than by voters.”
The June 18 primary in Carter County resulted in a tie. State law says after provisional ballot analysis and a recount has been performed, then a lot is held by the county election board.
“I’ve heard from many of my constituents in Carter County who are frustrated with the way this race has to be decided because of an outdated statute,” Townley said.
Townley plans to introduce a bill next session which would offer several options to county election board officials in the event of a tie election.
“It’s 2024. We have the technology and resources available to organize a runoff election in the event of a tied race,” Townley said. “We must make every effort to ensure elections are decided by voters, not by luck.”
