How games of chance break ties in most of Arizona elections

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Democratic primary in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District appears to be heading to a recount, with 42 votes separating the top two candidates out of more than 44,000 ballots.

What happens if an election ends in a tie in Arizona? It’s rare but not unprecedented.

After months of campaigning and days of counting votes, Arizona law says if two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes for the same office and a higher number than any other candidate, “the result shall determined by lot.”

“What’s the definition of ‘by lot?’ A game of chance is by lot,” said Doug Cole with HighGround Inc., a public affairs firm.

That could be a coin flip, breaking matches, or a card game that is solely chance.

In 1992, the then-Legislative District 6 Republican primary ended in a tie between John Gaylord and Richard Kyle, even after a recount.

The primary election was decided by a game of five-card stud, in which then-Speaker of the House and later Gov. Jane Hull served as the dealer.

In the end, Kyle won the card game and the nomination.

“If I was going to lose a race, this is just as good as any other way to lose it,” said Gaylord back in 1992.

It also happened in 2009 when Adam Trenk and Thomas McGuire were running for the Cave Creek Town Council.

After an election turned into a runoff and ended in a tie, Trenk and McGuire did a high-card draw in front of Judge George Preston.

“The campaigning never seemed to end and then to have it come down to a tie, I had never even considered that possibility,” said Trenk in an interview with Arizona’s Family on Monday.

Trenk and McGuire say the card draw was guided by several rules, including having two brand new decks of cards, who would shuffle the cards, and who would pick first.

McGuire went first, pulling a six of hearts, followed by Trenk, pulling a king of hearts and ultimately a spot on the Town Council.

“I can tell people I haven’t lost an election, but I have lost my council seat, and that was on the draw of the cards,” said McGuire.

Not all races in Arizona that end in a tie are determined by a game of chance, though.

The Legislature would break a tie for the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction.

But for the rest of the races, it comes down to a game of chance.

“I think that democracy is an imperfect system but it’s better than all the rest of them and a card draw is just about as good a way as any to decide a tie vote,” said Trenk.

“I thought that was a really reasonable way of doing it,” adds McGuire. “It wasn’t a great evening for me but I thought it was a good evening for Cave Creek.”

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