Spring Lake Park voters managed to do something exceedingly rare in local politics: they created an exact tie. Incumbent Mayor Robert Nelson and challenger Halyn Roth each pulled in 1,401 votes, leaving the city with no clear winner and a plan to settle the race by literally drawing a name out of the mix.
City officials say they intend to resolve the deadlock by randomly drawing the candidates’ names at the next City Council meeting, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. That meeting is set for Monday, November 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at Spring Lake Park City Hall, and it is open to the public. Nelson, the sitting mayor, and Roth are the only two names in contention, with a separate report from ABC Newspapers similarly describing the two candidates as tied at 1,401 votes each with all three precincts reporting, citing unofficial election results.
A Margin So Thin It Came Down to the Last Vote
The race wasn’t just close — it was dead even, with write-in candidates picking up 12 votes in the same contest, per the station’s reporting. Daniel Buchholtz, commenting on the situation, said the unusual tie reminds people that every vote counts, a sentiment that feels almost understated given how the numbers landed. The Spring Lake Park mayor’s seat carries a two-year term, so whoever ultimately takes office won’t be settling in for long before facing voters again.
The results remain unofficial. That matters here: the city is moving ahead with plans to break the tie before results are official.
What Happens After the Names Are Drawn
Once council members draw a name Monday, the losing candidate won’t necessarily be out of options. The candidate whose name is not drawn may request a publicly funded recount within seven days, the station reported. More broadly, Minnesota law allows a losing candidate for public office to request a state-funded hand recount when the margin between candidates is less than 0.5% of total votes cast — a threshold a tied race would almost certainly clear.
Roth has already indicated she plans to use that option. She said that if results remain unchanged and Nelson wins the drawing, she intends to request a recount. Nelson’s side of that question remains open: FOX 9 reported it had not yet received a response from him about whether he would seek a recount if the outcome went the other way.
Conflicting Statutes on Who Breaks the Tie
Minnesota law requires tie election results to be determined by lot. One excerpt of state statute, from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, states that in case of a tie vote, the governing body shall determine the result by lot. A separate excerpt of the state’s election code says the canvassing board responsible for declaring results for that office shall determine the tie by lot. For Spring Lake Park, ABC Newspapers says the City Council, acting as the canvassing board, would determine the winner by lot if the official results are tied.
A related statute excerpt confirms more generally that a losing candidate at a municipal election may request a recount of the votes for that office, subject to the requirements of a separate recount statute, though the exact deadline and vote-margin threshold tied to this particular race are not independently spelled out in that excerpt. For now, Spring Lake Park residents are left waiting to see whose name gets pulled first — and whether that draw actually ends the race, or just opens the door to a recount.
