Council race ends in a tie — and a coin toss

Did you hear about the big controversy in Parowan over the recent City Council race that ended in a tie?

That's because there wasn't one.

It was difficult to decide which was stranger about the race between Jess Askeroth and Dale Bettridge for the City Council seat: The fact that they finished with precisely the same number of votes, or the civil way it was handled.

It ended first with a tie and then with a coin flip and finally a handshake.

"It was a fair way to do it," said Jess Askeroth.

And he was the loser.

It sounded like an episode from Mayberry, but it was just Parowan (population 2,500), which might be the same thing. There were no threats of a lawsuit, no charges of missing votes (even if there was one), no lashing out in the media, no wounded egos.

Only this: "Either one of us would have worked out fine for the job," said Dale Bettridge.

And he was the winner.

Is this any way to run an election?

Yes.

The City Council race matched Askeroth, a 47-year-old chiropractor, against Bettridge, a 65-year-old Parowan native and retired driver's license examiner. They also happen to attend the same church and have known each other for years.

Askeroth was encouraged by local citizens to run for office; Bettridge ran out of a sense of duty — "If you haven't had a turn (serving in office), you can't complain," he says. "I try to be civic minded and willing to do my share."

They passed out a few fliers, put up some signs and spoke at meet-the-candidates night. Askeroth also directed the Scout drive and went on vacation in the middle of the campaign. Maybe that cost him a vote or two, he said. Oh, well.

The first time they tabulated the ballots in the initial vote, Bettridge won by three votes. Askeroth called Bettridge and congratulated him. But after they tabulated the absentee ballots, plus one vote that wasn't counted the first time around, the tabulation was: Bettridge 359 votes, Askeroth 359 votes.

"I was aware that ties will be broken by lot," said David Yardley, the Iron County clerk. But when that didn't sound quite right to some, Yardley double-checked the code book. He decided on a coin toss.

The law requires both candidates to be present for the tiebreaker ceremony, but when that day rolled around no one could find Askeroth. Foul play? Dirty politics? It turned out he was on the roof of his house. Was he going to jump? Had he cracked under the stress of politics? No, he was just putting up Christmas lights. A neighbor told him to get on down to the courthouse. A single TV camera was waiting when he arrived.