In the Democratic primaries for the 20th Congressional District in Florida, the candidates came to the fore by only five votes. A rare question arises: What if they are tied?

After the machine and manual recounts in Broward and Palm Beach counties, political newcomer Sheila Sherfells-McCormick led Broward Commissioner Dale Hornes, and the current spread is minimal. .

But on Friday, the number of votes cast by overseas voters is still unknown, and a small number of mailed ballots were previously rejected because the wrong voter signed and signed the envelope. Mismatch.

In Broward, the County Canvassing Committee allowed three votes to be counted. Hornes has a strong advantage in Broward, leaving the potential for a last-minute comeback.

For a tied election under Florida law, candidates would have to “draw lots to determine who shall be elected to the office.”

What exactly this means, or even if it applies to the primaries of the Federal Congress, remains to be debated—even among lawyers who specialize in election law.

Lottery as an idea can be traced back to Bible times and the Middle Ages, and is usually a way to resolve difficult disputes. As Psalm 16:33 says: "We can roll dice, but the Lord will determine how they fall."

In the New Testament, Roman soldiers draw lots to determine who can take his robe home after the crucifixion.

In essence, drawing lots is an uncertain game of chance. In the modern world, it can mean any number of things. In 2006, a federal judge in the Central District of Florida ordered the two parties to play a game of rock, paper scissors, and rock in a stubborn non-election dispute to solve the problem. That is a form of drawing lots.

JC Planas, an election lawyer in Miami, said the probability of a game of rock, paper, and scissors being ordered to resolve a tie election is very low.

"It might flip a coin or something like that," Planas said.

He said that Planas participated in and followed countless recount elections, but none of them really participated in the game of chance.

However, some are quite close.

He remembered that Republicans Carlos Valdes and Miguel De Grandy fought for a seat in the state legislature in the 1988 primary elections, and ended up with only one vote. The Republican primary in Jacksonville in 2014 saw the winner get a share of the pie with only two votes. Most recently in 2020, a notorious election in the 37th District of the Florida Senate was shrouded by illegal activities and only received 34 votes.

The 2017 Virginia House of Representatives election result was a tie, leading state officials to randomly select candidate names from the bowl. This resulted in the Republican Party winning, allowing the Republican Party to maintain control of the Virginia House of Representatives.

Miami’s election lawyer David Kastin said that two questions made the draw of the Democratic primary of the 20th Congressional District in Florida a nightmare and a difficult one to answer.

First of all, this is a federal election. Generally speaking, the Florida election law does not have jurisdiction over federal race, and he argued based on his interpretation.

Second, this is a primary election, not a general election.

The state law requiring lottery only mentions "universal elections" and "special elections."

The Democratic primary for Florida's 20th Congressional District was part of a special election to fill the vacant seats left by Congressman Alcee Hastings after the death of Congressman Alcee Hastings earlier this year. But this is the primary election, not the special election itself.

"If it is a tie, the executive committee of the local Florida Democratic Party may have a say," Castine said.

Even so, there are problems. Hornes won the highest vote in Broward County. In Palm Beach County, Cherfilus-McCormick has a strong advantage.

"Literally, in this dynamic, you would fight an inner-party food struggle for which county committee can arrange for their candidate to participate in the general election," he said. "Do you speak Spanish? Es un despingue."

In other words: a complete, thorough, thorough, ruthless chaos.

Tallahassee election lawyer Natalie Kato disagreed. She said that the tie will be determined by a relatively simple game of chance, just like the two sides draw cards from a complete deck, "Whoever gets the highest card is the winner."

Is the A high hand or low hand? This may also depend on the interpretation.

But Kato stated in her interpretation of the state election law that the Florida Department of Elections does have the power to resolve the tie in the federal congressional primary.

"They have jurisdiction over elections in the state, for example, even elections such as presidents," she said. "But in the end, if you are dealing with people like the president, we have national standards to discuss how you choose voters. What we are talking about here is - yes, this is a federal election, but it is a complete The game is played in Florida, so it is subject to Florida election laws."

"If I were an election lawyer participating in this campaign, I might meet with other lawyers and let us all agree on the type of fair lottery. Unless the Election Department gave us directions," she said.

The Florida Electoral Department's request for comment on whether state regulations apply or whether the state has a preferred version of the "lottery" did not receive a response.

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