Coin toss decides winner of Jerusalem Township trustee race
Jerusalem Township Trustee Mark Sattler won a coin toss to break a tie vote to win election to a seat he filled for a year and a half due to the death of former Township Trustee Joe Kiss, who died last year.
Sattler and Verne Meinke were neck and neck the day after the Nov. 5 general election, with Sattler ahead by just one vote at 383-382, which triggered an automatic recount.
After the election, the board started an official canvass of the votes that included absentee and provisional ballots, according to Tim Monaco, deputy director of the Lucas County Board of Elections.
“After the official canvass, the voted was tied,” said Monaco, “at 387-387. At that point, if the vote is tied between two candidates during the official canvass, a winner is decided by lot, which in this case was flipping a quarter, which is what the board chose to do on Nov. 22. They could have drawn straws, pulled a name out of a hat.”
One of the board members assigns which candidate gets heads, and which gets tails. Sattler was assigned tails, and the coin toss fell onto a tabletop and landed on the tails side of the coin, said Monaco.
“Democrat board member Brenda Hill assigned heads and tails. Chairman David Karmol flipped the coin,” said Monaco.
A recount was held on Dec. 2, which confirmed the official canvass that the vote was tied,” he said. As a result, the coin toss that gave Sattler the win was validated.
Sattler told The Press last week that “it was a very tense month.”
“I am absolutely delighted to be able to continue to serve Jerusalem Township. I look forward to serving four years,” said Sattler.
“Every single vote counts,” he added. “This has been an incredible lesson.”
He and Meinke were both present at the recount on Dec. 2.
“The recount process took over five hours. Verne and I sat next to each other observing the recount process. We had five hours to chit chat. When David Karmol at the very end called the board of elections to order and announced the results, Verne turned to me and offered me his hand in congratulations. It was great to talk with him. We both want to serve Jerusalem Township.”
Sattler’s four year term is from Jan. 1, 2020 until Dec. 31, 2023.