Andalusia is one of at least three Alabama municipalities that have had elections end in a tie in the current election cycle.
On Tuesday's runoff election in Andalusia, incumbent District 4 Councilman Presley Boswell and challenger Greg Palmer tied with 183 votes each. One provisional ballot cast in District 4 is being reviewed by the Board of Registrars, who, when the Andalusia City Council meets to certify the election results at noon on Tuesday will tell the council if the vote can count.
If the vote counts, it will break the tie and the recipient of that provisional vote will be declared the District 4 winner. If the vote does not count, the Code of Alabama, Sec.11-46-55, says that the current City Council will break the tie.
In the event that the City Council vote ends in a tie, the law provides that the probate judge shall choose a winner by lot. Probate Judge Brooks has committed to attend Tuesday’s Council meeting in case her services are needed.
In District 1 on Tuesday, Andalusia voters returned incumbent Joe Nix to a second term on the Council. Nix defeated challenger Jermaine Woods, 142 to 98.
Other Alabama municipalities also have faced ties this year.
On August 26, the mayor of Guntersville and her challengertied. They met in a run-off this week, as required by law, and Mayor Leigh Dollars was ultimately successful in her bid for re-election.
Also on August 26, the mayor of Centreville and his opponent were tied. Two provisional ballots cast in that election broke the tie in favor of the challenger. Current Mayor Mike Oakley is challenging the results in court.
In an another extremely rare incident, the City of Moulton will conduct a second run-off in October. There were four candidates in Moulton's race for District 1 Council on August 26th. The top three vote-getters had 38 percent, 23 percent and 23 percent respectively.
There were therefore three candidates in that run-off election this week. Again, no one received more than 50 percent of the votes. The top two candidates from Sept. 23rd will meet in a second runoff on October 28.