It’s a ‘draw’

Glass-bowl pick for Va. winner

A closely watched election for the Virginia legislature has ended in a tie and will be decided through the luck of the draw — by plucking the winning name out of a glass bowl.

The drawing will be held Wednesday for a House of Delegates seat that will decide whether Republicans or Democrats control the chamber, Virginia Board of Elections Chairman James Alcorn announced Thursday on Twitter.

Following a dramatic recount and a court battle, a three-judge panel ruled on Wednesday that the 94th District race in Newport News between three-term Republican incumbent David Yancey and Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds (both pictured) ended in a dead heat, with each awarded 11,608 votes.

The winner will be selected the same way the board chooses the order of candidates on the ballot each election, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

The names of both candidates will be printed on a piece of paper and the slips will be placed in old film canisters that the election agency has saved for just such an occasion.

Those canisters will then go into a bowl, and a board member will choose one at random.

Whoever’s name is selected will be the winner. If Yancey wins, the GOP will retain its 51-49 majority. If Simonds comes out on top, the parties will share power in a 50-50 split.

On election night, Yancey won the race by 10 votes, prompting a recount, which showed Simonds winning by just one vote.

But the judges ruled the ballot should be counted for Yancey, leaving the race tied.