Winner takes all: Nevada election tie settled by high-card draw showdown
Call it the luck of the draw – literally.
A tied local election in Nevada was decided by a high-card draw Wednesday morning, as two candidates vied to serve out full terms on a local governing board in the small town of Gerlach, about 100 miles north of Reno.
Longtime residents and friends Carl Copek and Seth Schrenzel both ran last year for one of four seats on the Gerlach General Improvement District (GGID) Board of Directors. By law, the top three vote-getters would serve full, four-year terms through 2028, while the bottom vote-getter out of the four would have to run again in 2026, according to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters.
Copek and Schrenzel both received 67 votes out of a total 335 votes cast for five candidates, tying them for third place and necessitating a tiebreaker, with the loser securing fourth place. Since both Copek and Schrenzel tied for third, they were guaranteed to serve at least two years and the tiebreaker was pushed until this week, according to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters.
Nevada state law dictates that tied candidates for a local office shall "appear before the county clerk at a time and place designated by the county clerk and determine the tie by lot" – in this case, a card draw, with the high card the winner.
Schrenzel won a coin toss Wednesday in the Washoe County Commission Chambers, allowing him to select his card first. He drew a seven of diamonds, beating Copek's five of clubs.
"I wouldn't say there is anything more Nevada than drawing cards to determine an official election," Schrenzel told ABC Reno affiliate station KOLO.
Since the draw made him the fourth-place finisher, Copek would have to run again for the office next year. It didn't take him long to decide: "I am announcing today my bid for re-election," a smiling Copek told KOLO after the card draw, with Schrenzel at his side.
George Guthrie, a spokesperson for the Washoe County Registrar of Voters, said the high-stakes card draw was a true-to-form way for Nevada to settle an election tie.
"We were kind of excited, right? A card draw for Nevada to handle elections – what's a more Nevada thing that could you have?," Guthrie told ABC News.
"It was a neat piece of history, an actual physical piece of history that they have for this tie breaker, which again, really doesn't happen a lot here in Nevada elections. It's pretty crazy," Guthrie added of the cards themselves, which the candidates signed and which will be displayed at the office of the GGID office.
The GGID "provides water, disposal and sewer services to the residents of the community," according to Gerlach's official website.
