The Better Tiebreaker

Thanks to her dice-rolling skills, Stephanie Spellman will likely be the new Winnebago County Board Supervisor from the city of Neenah.  Spellman beat incumbent George Scherck in a "game of chance" to decide the winner of that race--after the two tied on Election Day.  It sort of gives new meaning to the term "shake of the day"--except in this case, Spellman gets to vote on a multi-million dollar budget every year and to place new restrictions on people--rather than getting a free shot.

While the game of chance route may be the most "fair" way to break an election tie, I would propose that we develop a method that actually rewards the "best" candidate for an office.  Rather than picking a card out of a deck, or drawing lots from a hat, or picking straws, or rolling dice, why not have a test to determine who knows the most about the job they are about to win.

The state Elecions Commission can come up with a secret quiz that includes key issues that a "good supervisor" should know: "To the nearest million, how large is the county budget?", "In what instances are a two-thirds majority of the board required to pass a measure?", "How many supervisors are required to form a quorum of the Board?".

I'd want that test expanded to a number of general government procedures and requirements as well--so let's include questions about Roberts Rules of Order, the powers granted by the both the state and US constitutions, and maybe a few asking about zero-based budgeting, property tax assessment and municipal bonding.  Might there be some advantage for an incumbent in using this test?  Maybe.  But if you've ever watched a Winnebago County Board meeting on public access TV, you would know that supervisors that have been on there for 30-years still don't know or understand a majority of the issues that I just suggested be on the test.

To make it even more fun, instead of having the tied candidates sit at desks and fill out Scantron sheets, we could put them through a Jeopardy-style head-to-head contest--with the top points-getter claiming the seat.  "I'll take 'Enumeration of Individual Rights" for 2000, Alex."

Let's allow the voters have their shot at electing the more-personable or more-persuasive candidate--but if they can't pick a winner, it wouldn't hurt to have the more-knowledgeable candidate get the seat--as opposed to the luckier of the two.