Cut of cards determines winner of Nevada race

[November 22, 2010]  MINDEN, Nev. (AP) -- In true Nevada style, a county board election that resulted in a tie between two candidates was decided by a draw of the cards.

The Record-Courier of Gardnerville reports that Natalie Yanish drew the ace of clubs Friday to win a seat on the Kingsbury Grade General Improvement District board over Robert McDowell, who drew the eight of diamonds.

The two tied for third place in the Nov. 2 election. They finished with 373 votes each in an 11-way race for three seats. State law allows candidates to settle ties by either drawing cards or flipping a coin.

Douglas County Clerk Ted Thran shuffled a deck of cards and each candidate selected one.

Nevada's tie-breaking method has been used to settle at least several other races in counties across the state over the last decade.

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Information from: Gardnerville Record-Courier, http://www.recordcourier.com/

[Associated Press]

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