The outcome of a Bedford Park Village Board race came down to a coin flip Thursday after two candidates ended up in a dead heat in the April 17 elections.
Former Bedford Park Mayor Ronald Robison won the toss for the board vacancy, according to the Cook County clerk’s office, which conducted the coin flip in Clerk David Orr’s office in Chicago.
Robison and incumbent Trustee John C. Holloway were tied with 101 votes apiece after the election, Orr noted.
“Mr. Robison picked tails and tails it was,” said Orr spokeswoman Gail Siegel.
Election officials said ties are rare. But the Bedford Park trustee race was not the only one in the area this year.
A coin toss also is likely to decide a Crete Village Board race in Will County. A count Tuesday of remaining ballots from last month’s election showed 12-year incumbent Larry Johnston and repeat challenger Brent Humecki still even at 553 votes, leaving them in a tie for third in a race to elect three trustees.
Under Illinois law, when two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes, the winner is to be determined by a lottery no later than 21 days after the election. As the county’s chief election officer, the county clerk determines the method for drawing lots.
Methods used have included drawing straws and picking a name out of a hat, in addition to a coin toss. One tie in Springfield in recent years was decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors, state election officials said.
To determine who would call “heads or tails” Thursday, the names of both candidates were written down on slips of paper, which then were sealed and placed in plastic pill dispensers. The dispensers then were put in a fishbowl. Orr shook the bowl and pulled out the dispenser with Robison’s name, Siegel said.
A George Washington silver dollar was used for the coin flip, she added. Neither candidate attended the toss in person, Siegel said. “They did it live over the telephone from the comfort of Bedford Park,” she said.
If he chooses, Holloway can try to overturn the results of the April 17 vote count by filing a request for a discovery recount, Orr said.
Robison, who served as mayor between 2001 and 2005, will join Trustee Anthony Kensik and Edward Salecki, who also were elected, on the board for the next four years.
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sziemba@tribune.com
