The Contra Costa Registrar of Voters Office certified the results of the election Friday afternoon and a Richmond City Council race has indeed ended in a tie. Now, the winner will be decided in the luck of a draw.
“I’ve put a lot of time and energy into the campaign for many months, and to think that it would ultimately come down to the luck of the draw, or a game of chance is mind-boggling,” said Richmond City Council Candidate Andrew Butt.
“Even though it’s stressful, it’s also exciting because we get to see democracy working,” said Richmond City Council Candidate Cesar Zepeda.
Richmond City Council candidates Butt and Zepeda are both on pins and needles after learning the result of their Richmond District 2 city council race is a tie.
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“After we canvassed every eligible ballot, each candidate has received, it’s a tied vote, 1,921 to 1,921,” said
Contra Costa county’s assistant registrar of voters said it’s now up to the city of Richmond to break that tie.
According to a city resolution, the city clerk shall place the name of each candidate in a sealed unmarked envelope and the tie vote shall be broken by lot.
“The city clerk shall place the name of each candidate in a sealed unmarked envelope and the tie vote shall be broken by lot”
“Now it’s going to be resolved by putting names in a green envelope. The city clerk will be the one to select an envelope out of a bag, and that person is going to be the elected council member,”
“Every single vote counts. If one vote had been different in 2018 the tiebreaker would have never happened. If one vote had been different yesterday, we wouldn’t have a tie today,” said Helen Nolan with the Contra Costa County Assistant Registrar of Voters
The tie breaker is expected to take place next week.
