Anna Mehler Paperny writes for the Globe and Mail:
Mr. Coombs, who lives with his parents in Paradise and commutes to Memorial University in St. John’s, won the first round of ballot-counting in Tuesday’s municipal election by a hairsbreadth. But a recount Thursday put him and incumbent mayor Ralph Wiseman in a dead tie. The standoff was solved, in accordance with provincial rules, by drawing the two names out of a hat – or, in this case, Mr. Coombs said, a recycling bin. Mr. Wiseman won.
Drawing names out of a hat sounds like an arbitrary law. Even making both candidates take LSAT and giving the job to the one with a higher score sounds fairer .
