Madison Recount: Campbell and Delzer Tie

Get out your lucky rabbit's feet, Monica and Scott: The Madison City Commission election recount has resulted in a tie. You may recall that Monica Campbell beat Scott Delzer by one vote for second place in the city commission election April 8. Delzer called for a recount Monday; the recount committee met yesterday to go back through the ballots. Evidently, the ballot-counting machines were off by one, and in this case, one is all it takes.

So Madison City Government will now be cast to the winds of fate. No revote, no arm-wreslting match: per SDCL 9-13-27.2, Campbell and Delzer will get together at a time and place of City Finance Officer Jeff Heinemeyer's choosing to draw lots. Draw the right straw, win the coin toss, whatever Heinemeyer chooses, and the law says you're the commissioner.

I've seen this method used at debate tournaments, when there's an unbreakable tie between speakers on ranks and ratings, and it always makes me cringe. Simply flipping a coin gets us home sooner from debate contests, but I'd rather see a final round.

Same with elections: Drawing lots is the cheapest way to resolve a tie, but I'd prefer a run-off. Heck, even if printing ballots and revving up the ballot machines is too expensive, I'd prefer a good caucus. Open the doors of the armory Tuesday night, let everyone come who wants to come, and at 7 p.m., take a show of hands. Whoever can fire up enough supporters to come to the meeting wins. It's not perfect, but it beats government by random chance.

If I were Scott or Monica, I'd also much rather face a run-off election where I could do something to affect the outcome -- go knock on more doors, run another ad, blog like crazy -- rather than sitting and waiting for Jeff to find a fair coin to flip. But the law is the law. Cross your fingers, everyone, and get ready for your next randomly selected city commissioner!