Three times on Tuesday morning, Allen County Commissioner Bruce Symes reached in and pulled a name out of a metal bucket decorated with a U.S. flag to determine the outcome of last week’s election races.
The names were drawn to resolve ties in three city races, bringing a bit of drama to what was otherwise a routine matter of certifying election results.
In one of those races, Election Day results showed Darcy Burton ahead of Lee Roberts by just one vote for a Moran City Council seat. But when provisional ballots were added during this Tuesday’s official canvass, Roberts picked up one vote and ensured a tie.
Symes drew a name out of the bucket to resolve the tie. Roberts prevailed.
In the other two races, no one filed for positions in small cities, so the winner was determined by write-in candidates — and they tied.
In the race for Savonburg mayor, David Janssen and Charles Lacrone II each received nine write-in votes. Janssen won the tie-breaker.
In a race for Bassett City Council, five seats were available and only three candidates filed.
The fourth seat was decided by write-in votes, but four people tied for the fifth seat. They were Amanda Beeman, Dustin Beeman, Jaci Westervelt and Larry Crawford. When names were drawn, Crawford won.
Ironically, Crawford had filed for the mayor’s race and won unopposed. Now, he’ll have to decide which seat he wants to keep. The Bassett City Council will decide who will fill the position he declines.
Tie votes can be decided by a coin flip or by a random name draw. Because one race was a four-way tie, commissioners decided to draw names. 
Tuesday’s canvass finalized the election results and otherwise brought no surprises. County Clerk Shannon Patterson presented commissioners with 22 provisional ballots, which are those given to voters when there is some question about eligibility. Some reasons for a provisional ballot would be if a voter has moved or changed their name since the last election.
Commissioners rejected nine ballots; seven were not properly registered, one did not provide a photo identification and the other one filled out a second ballot because he believed he received the wrong ballot the first time (the first ballot was counted but not the second).
Commissioners approved 13 provisional ballots, mostly because of address changes.
