Tied Abington Candidates to Cast Lots to Determine Winner on Friday

Well, it might come down to what one Republican called “a casino game.”

The two candidates vying for the role of Abington Township's Ward 4 Commissioner — Republican Pamela Vasserman and Democrat Jimmy DiPlacido — will draw lots on Friday to try to determine a winner in the race.

The Montgomery County Commissioners, sitting as the Montgomery County Election Board, held a meeting Wednesday afternoon at One Montgomery Plaza to re-tally the votes.

At the end of election night, each candidate walked away with 517 votes, according to the unofficial results … and those numbers stayed exactly the same after Wednesday’s recount.

Montgomery County Commissioner Leslie Richards chaired the meeting; she read the results from the tapes in the voting machines in each precinct, followed by the absentee ballots. After she read the results, she passed them to Commissioner Bruce Castor and then to Commissioner Josh Shapiro to see if they agreed.

The results from the machines had Vasserman and DiPlacido tied at 505 votes, but there were 26 absentee ballots.

The first two absentee ballots read were deemed “no vote cast.” The next nine votes went to Vasserman, then the next six went to DiPlacido; it ultimately ended in a tie.

Casting of lots

On Friday at noon at One Montgomery Plaza, Vasserman and DiPlacido (or a proxy for each candidate) will cast lots to determine the winner of the election.

What’s that mean? Well, each candidate will pick a tiled number out of a jar. The candidate who draws the largest number wins.  

Montgomery County Spokesman Frank Custer said earlier that the Republicans have filed a challenge in court, but have agreed to put off the hearing until after the Election Board conducted its recount. Attorney for Republican candidates Robert Adshead, who called the drawing of lots “a casino game,”  said “it makes no sense to draw lots before the challenge.”

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