MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) — The vast majority of candidates who ran for public office this election know by now if they won.
However, for Rashidah Hammond and Alex Bronson, it's been a nearly week of lingering uncertainty. Both are running for the Mount Clemens school board.
“When I woke up Wednesday morning, I went and checked on the official website and I saw that there was a tie between me and the other candidate," Hammond recalled. “I was surprised."
A lot of people were surprised to learn that Bronson and Hammond tied. Each received 3,495 votes a piece, according to the Macomb County clerk. They tied for the fourth and final open school board position on the ballot.
“So, the first thing I do: I call the clerk. I’m like alright, 'What are we going to do about this?' He’s like, ‘Well, it’s unofficial. We gotta wait for everything and then once that’s done, then ya know, come do the process to settle a tie,'” Bronson said.
So what is the process to break the tie? It’s simpler than you might think and you’ve likely done it.
“We’re gonna call the two candidates in and we’re gonna flip a coin. This is how I handle it,” Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini told 7 News Detroit.
Hear more from Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini in the video below:
Before the coin toss, he said two sheets of paper will be placed into a box. One sheet will read “elected" and the other will read “not elected.”
Then, the coin toss will determine which candidate will stick their hand into the box to pull out one those sheets of paper.
“We’re gonna flip a coin. They’re going to decide heads or tails. Head picks first," Forlini explained. "And they’re going to pull out “elected” or “not elected," and the other one is not elected."
Hammond told 7 News Detroit, "Being 2024, I would like there to be something more advanced, maybe a runoff between him and I.”
In response to that idea, Forlini said, “No, that’s not the way the law works. The law works. This is how we gotta do it.”
Bronson said he also expressed that it felt "arcane."
However, he said, “It’s better than rock, paper, scissors where I’m going to blame myself for the rest of my life for not throwing scissors, ya know?”
Forlini said a tie like this one hasn't been seen since the 2007 election race for city commission. Now, these candidates will need to agree on a day to meet to flip the coin.
"If Rashida gets it, I'd be more than happy with that. I think she did a lot of great work on city council and I think she'd make a great addition to the school board also," Bronson said.
Hammond said, "I'm very thankful to the voters that came out and voted in election 'cause this shows the importance of the local school board and local elections. They're just as important and that every single-vote counts. 'Cause that one extra vote would have been the decision breaker."
Forlini said the only other way to break the tie and avoid pulling a piece of paper from a box is to account for votes from voters living overseas, including members of the military.
Also, he said ballots with technical errors still need to be fixed and tallied. He said that all should be done by Wednesday.
