Barb Byrum, Ingham County Clerk
Grady Doane’s representative chose the “Elected” lot at the Ingham County Board of Canvassers meeting.The final seat for the City of Leslie’s City Council was not decided until two days after the Nov 2 election. Grady Doane and Robert Stacy finished the night tied at 150 votes each. A tie-breaker at the Ingham County Board of Canvassers meeting on Nov. 4 resulted in Doane being named victor.
Ultimately, the election came down to a game of chance. Ingham County’s rule for an election tie is for the candidates to draw lots from a hat. At the Board of Canvassers meeting, Doane’s representative selected the winning slip.
Stacy said the tie-breaker was “fair and simple.” The runner-up said he believed Doane is a good candidate, as well.
“Grady Doane is a person I’ve known for quite some years and I’m sure will be great in the position,” said Stacy.
Doane said he did not know the protocol for a tie before election night. He said it was a fun civics lesson for him as a social studies teacher. Doane was unable to attend the canvassers meeting, as he was needed in his classroom. Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum appointed someone from her staff to represent Doane.
On election night Doane said he was surprised that the election ended in a tie.
He said, “I laughed and said ‘what are the chances?’”
Doane said he was not worried about the outcome of the election. He said that running for the council seat was him performing a civic duty rather than looking for a job. He said that all the candidates running for the seat were good people who would have done a good job if elected.
Byrum said that other than the tie, the rest of Ingham County’s election ran without unforeseen hiccups.
“There are always opportunities for improvement,” said Byrum. “There were some ballot jams at some of my locations, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was a reasonably smooth election.”