Tiny midstate town’s mayoral race ends in tie

The mayor’s race in a small Monroe County town is headed to a runoff after a tie between the two candidates.

The battle between incumbent Culloden Mayor Melvin James and challenger Lynn Miller ended in a 47-47 draw after the paper ballots were counted. The tie appears to be the first one in the city’s history, and it caught City Clerk Lisa Elder off guard.

The day after the election, Elder contacted state election officials to see when a runoff needed to be scheduled. Culloden, located about 16 miles southwest of Forsyth, has roughly 167 registered voters.

“We’ve never had a runoff for mayor before,” Elder said.

This election drew a strong turnout, which, of course, is relative for a city with as few as residents as Culloden.

“We had several absentee ballots and a quite a few early voters,” Elder said with a laugh. “When I say quite a few for Culloden, that could be five.”

For James, there was initial concern that a City Council member may have been present while the ballots were being counted. But the 64-year-old said he was OK with it after learning it was legal.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the public may view the counting of paper ballots. The only people allowed to touch the ballots, however, are the election superintendent or a deputy.

The Telegraph was unable to contact Miller on Wednesday.

James said he would need more time to decide if he would seek a recount, but as of Wednesday afternoon was leaning toward focusing on the runoff.

He said he became the city’s first black mayor after a special election in April following the death of Mayor Steve Eller. A list of mayors in City Hall shows the officials who have led the city since 1907.

But for James, there is one change he would prefer in future elections: having Monroe County’s elections office in charge. Because of Culloden’s throwback voting process with paper ballots placed inside a box at City Hall, there should be more safeguards from potential fraud, he said.

“I think the people that do the voting out of Forsyth should handle our elections,” James said.

Culloden’s election wasn’t the only one that ended in a tie on Tuesday. A Texas mayor suggested having a coin toss decide a Bandera City Council race that ended knotted up 89-89 in order to save money from a runoff, reported mysanantonio.com.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Tiny midstate town’s mayoral race ends in tie."