Votes out of a hat

A few days ago I wrote about a race for the Virginia House of Delegates that Democrat Shelly Simonds won by a single vote. This particular race would also determine whether the GOP would control the House or would have to work out a power sharing agreement with the Dems.

Sigh. It was great while it lasted.

The GOP took one of the rejected ballots to a three judge panel. They ruled it counted for the GOP candidate David Yancey.

This is a ballot that had been rejected because the voter filled in the ovals for both Simonds and Yancey, then drew a slash through the oval for Simonds. This was considered an overvote. The voter should have gotten a fresh ballot. The GOP agreed it was an overvote during the counting – until they needed one more vote. The race is now declared a tie.

So sometime next week the race will be decided by essentially drawing a name out of a hat. Again, the control of the chamber hangs on the outcome. Not democracy at all.

I heard that in Virginia Dem Delegates got 200,000 more votes than GOP Delegates or about 10% more. Yet because the state is so highly gerrymandered the result is only a 50-50 split in seats. But even a few districts gerrymandered for the GOP elected Dem Delegates.