周四，缅因州波特兰数百人到场观看了当地选举史上前所未有的事件:一个开放的市议会席位的获胜者是偶然被选中的，从一个木碗中抽出一个名字。
在周二的市政选举中，争夺该市网络普通用户委员会席位的四名候选人都没有赢得多数选票。排名选择即时决选决定了两个候选人——布兰登·马泽和罗伯托·罗德里格斯系每人正好有8529张选票。
如果票数相等，2011年修订的《城市宪章》将采用等级选择投票的管理规则，统治“城市办事员应通过抽签公开确定获胜者”——这意味着获胜者是随机选择的。
因此，周四早上，当人们聚集在波特兰市政厅外的广场上进行公众抽签以决定获胜者时，市政职员凯瑟琳·琼斯从家里带来了一个古董木碗。
Mazer和Rodriguez都事先同意了这个独特的过程，他们验证了他们的名字被印在相同的卡片纸上。他们将卡片对折，放入碗中，这时选举管理员保罗·莱利一边转动卡片，一边避开他的眼睛。
然后，他把碗举到琼斯视线上方，这样她就可以抽出一张卡片。向候选人展示后，她对着麦克风宣布了获胜者——布兰登·马泽尔。人群中爆发出欢呼声，两位候选人握手拥抱。
律师马泽告诉记者:“我为我们开展的竞选活动感到无比自豪，我真的很感谢每一个站出来的人，这真正表明了每一张选票都很重要。”美国广播公司缅因州波特兰分公司WMTW画完后。
罗德里格斯迅速提交了一份人工重新计票的正式请求，计划于11月9日重新计票。如有需要，将于11月10日继续。如果抽签结果发生变化，罗德里格斯将成为赢家。
波特兰学校董事会成员罗德里格斯告诉WMTW，“在经历了如此艰苦的竞选赛季后，把它归结为机遇有点令人震惊。“但是，你知道，这是政策规定。这就是我们的统治，所以我们今天在这里。”
“将会重新计票。我们将确保每一张选票都被计算在内，”他补充道。
马泽尔告诉电视台，他支持重新计票。
新议员将于12月6日宣誓就职，这是该市的一个历史性事件。
波特兰发言人杰西卡·格隆丹告诉美国广播公司新闻:“这是这里第一次有人记得在选举中打成平手。”。“这当然是自2011年采用排名选择投票以来，我们第一次打成平手。”
这个不寻常的过程引发了对脸书的一些批评，在这幅画的视频帖子上，评论者嘲笑地建议使用镖靶、抛硬币或石头、纸、剪刀来确定获胜者。
波特兰不是唯一一个抽签决定胜负的地方。2017年竞争激烈的弗吉尼亚州众议院席位的获胜者下定决心从一个陶瓷碗里抽出一个名字。
Tied city council race in Portland, Maine, decided by drawing name out of a bowl
Hundreds of people in Portland, Maine, turned up Thursday to watch an unprecedented event unfold in local election history: The winner of an open city council seat was chosen by chance, by drawing a name out of a wooden bowl.
None of the four candidates in the race for the city's at-large council seat won a majority of the vote in Tuesday's municipal election. The ranked-choice instant runoff determined that two of the candidates -- Brandon Mazer and Roberto Rodriguez -- weretiedwith exactly 8,529 votes each.
In the event of a tie, the city's charter, which was amended in 2011 to adopt rules for administering ranked-choice voting,governsthat “the City Clerk shall determine the winner in public by lot" -- meaning the winner is selected at random.
So on Thursday morning, City Clerk Katherine Jones brought an antique wooden bowl from home as people gathered on the plaza outside Portland's City Hall for the public drawing to determine the winner.
Mazer and Rodriguez, who both agreed to the unique process in advance, verified that their names were printed on identical pieces of cardstock paper. They folded the cards in half and placed them in the bowl, at which point Elections Administrator Paul Riley swirled them around while averting his eyes.
He then held the bowl above Jones' eye line so she could pull out a card. After displaying it to the candidates, she announced the winner into a microphone -- Brandon Mazer. Cheers erupted from the crowd, and the two candidates shook hands and embraced.
"I'm incredibly proud of the campaign we ran, and I really appreciate everyone who came out, and this truly shows that every vote matters," Mazer, an attorney, toldABC Portland, Maine, affiliate WMTWafter the drawing.
Rodriguez promptly submitted an official request for a manual recount, which has been scheduled for Nov. 9. If needed, it will continue on Nov. 10. If the outcome changes from the drawing, Rodriguez will be the winner.
"After such a grueling campaign season, to have it come down to chance was a little bit of a shock," Rodriguez, a member of the Portland School Board, told WMTW. "But, again, you know, this is what the policy says. This is what we're governed by, and so here we are today."
"There is going to be a recount. We're going to make sure every vote is counted," he added.
Mazer told the station he supports a recount.
The new councilor will be sworn in on Dec. 6 in what is a historic event for the city.
"This is the first time anyone here can remember having a tie in an election," Portland spokesperson Jessica Grondin told ABC News. "It is certainly the first time ever having a tie since we've used ranked choice voting, which was adopted in 2011."
The unusual process sparked some criticism on Facebook, with commenters on a video post of the drawing mockingly suggesting using a dartboard, a coin toss or Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine the winner.
Portland isn't the only place to decide ties by lot. The winner of a hotly contested Virginia House of Delegates seat in a 2017 racewas determinedby drawing a name out of a ceramic bowl.
