Bingo Balls Serve As Tiebreakers For 39 Tied Elections In Westmoreland County
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When politicians tell you that every vote counts, it has a ring of truth -- for instance, when an election ends up tied.
In Westmoreland County earlier this month, 39 election races ended up tied.
Usually, there are only around a dozen races that end in a tie.
The county had to draw lots, using bingo balls to decide the winners.
The bingo balls were loaded into what appeared to be a soda bottle.
Numbers were chosen, and the Elections Bureau will try to track down the winners.
"We do our best to notify them. We put it out on the web. We try to go through phone numbers and call them, because we don't personally know the people on the list. We're assuming they're registered voters. In some cases, they are. In some cases, they may not be," said Scott Ross, interim Co-Director of Westmoreland County Elections.
The election winners will become official on Monday, barring any last minute court filings.
Winners can turn down the office they were elected to if someone wrote them in for a job they don't want.