By Ismar Volić | The Conversation
Commentators and observers are concerned about the possibility of a tie in the November 2024 presidential election. One possibility is that both major-party candidates end up with 269 electoral votes – one short of the 270 required to claim victory. Another scenario is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appears to be attracting significant interest from the voters, collects a few electoral votes, preventing Biden or Trump from reaching the magic 270.
But then what? In recent decades, election ties have happened all over the country and have been resolved through bizarre, often comical procedures. The common feature of these methods is that the people’s wishes play no part in them. The voters are entirely removed from what is supposed to be a democratic process.
Strange tiebreakers
For instance, a 2006 local school board election in Alaska was decided by a coin toss, reelecting a woman who had actually died on Election Day.
In June 2009, candidates Thomas McGuire and Adam Trenk tied in the race for a City Council seat in Cave Creek, Arizona. They each got 660 votes. The town judge pulled a deck of cards from a cowboy hat, shuffled it and asked McGuire and Trenk to draw. McGuire drew the six of hearts. Trenk drew the king of hearts and got the seat on the council.
