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The mayoral election in Lytton, B.C., was decided by a random draw on Tuesday.
Incumbent Denise O’Connor and challenger Jennifer Thoss sought to lead the village in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon — which had just over 200 residents before a deadly 2021 wildfire led to much of the community’s destruction.
They both received 45 votes after the first count.
O’Connor and Thoss faced a recount in a Kamloops courthouse on Tuesday. After the recount resulted in the same vote numbers, a random draw decided that Thoss would be the community’s mayor.
Thoss told CBC News before the election that she was motivated to run for mayor amid frustration over the slow pace of the village’s rebuild following the fire.
She said she would make relationship-building a focus, if elected. Thoss previously served as a councillor before running for mayor.
“I’m looking at team-building right out of the gate and … just making sure that we’re using our strengths to our best advantage,” she said after the random draw. “And Lytton’s just such a gem and we have so much opportunity there.”
Just prior to the random draw, Thoss said that a potential runoff election in the event of a tie made more sense to her.
“If I’m pulled today, I think I’ll be looking at our elections bylaw because I learned a lot through this election with us tying,” she said.
Random draw used in Princeton
Lytton wasn’t the only B.C. community to use a random draw to break a tie following the Oct. 17 election.
In Princeton, Paula Shackleton and Tyler Willis both finished with 391 votes after the initial count for the fourth and final council seat.
The town of around 2,800 in the southern Interior held a judicial recount Monday. Following another tied vote, Willis was chosen at random.
B.C.’s Local Government Act states council races that are tied following a judicial recount can be decided by random draw if a municipality decides that is the case through a bylaw.
Municipalities also have the option of runoff elections, according to the law.
In 2018, Cindy Fortin remained mayor of Peachland, B.C., after a judge drew her name out of a wooden green box.
In 2022, Port Moody councillor Amy Lubik won after her name was pulled from a container.
