In the recent Oregon primary election for the 8th House District, which is predominantly Democratic, the absence of an official Republican candidate led to a unique scenario where write-in votes from Republican voters determined their nominee: a Democrat.
According to Eugene Weekly, tpproximately 103 Republicans wrote in names for their preferred candidate. Among these write-in candidates, the two individuals who garnered the highest number of votes happened to be Democrats: Lisa Fragala and Doyle Canning.
This unexpected outcome meant that the decision for the Republican nominee had to be made by a random selection process, as mandated by state law in the event of a tie.
Historically, such ties have been resolved by methods like rolling dice, but in this instance, election officials opted for a coin toss as the fairest means of determining the nominee. The event itself was witnessed by proxies standing in for Fragala and Canning, as neither candidate personally attended the coin toss.
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In a small conference room, Luke Belant, the state’s deputy elections director, performed the coin toss. The quarter, chosen from his wallet and agreed upon by both proxies, was flipped into the air. The outcome—tails landing up—declared Doyle Canning as the Republican nominee for the 8th House District.
However, there is a problem. Canning was defeated in the Democratic primary. Oregon’s “Sore loser” laws prohibit candidates from accepting nominations from any other party once they have lost in one primary election.
Read the full report here.
