Please Bag Your Next Mayor

The real news

The story, straight

Usually, whoever gets more votes wins. But Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, produced an exact tie: incumbent Robert Nelson and challenger Halyn Roth each received exactly 1,401 votes.

Minnesota law requires the election board to break a tie by drawing lots, meaning a random pick. At City Hall on November 9, each candidate's folded name went into an identical canister.

The canisters went into a cloth grocery bag so the person drawing couldn't distinguish the entries by touch. Nelson's name came out.

Democracy reached the checkout and needed assistance.

Nelson won the drawing, not an uncontested final result. Roth requested a recount minutes afterward.

That means checking the ballots again. It is scheduled for November 17 at 9 a.m. at the Anoka County Courthouse, and the public may attend.

Why not vote again? City Administrator Daniel Buchholtz estimated another election would cost about $30,000 and delay the outcome until February because of required voting periods.

The useful distinction: a random drawing breaks an equal count; a recount checks whether that count was right. Keep the receipt until the ballots are checked.

Source: MPR News, November 10, 2026.

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