SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — The race for the No. 3 position on the Fairfield City Council came down to two balls in a milk bottle.
After the race between Dave Watling and Steven Walk for the council position remained tied at 78 after a mandatory recount on Dec. 4, the future of the seat was decided by drawing lots using numbered balls and a plastic milk bottle on Monday.
Both candidates were assigned a numbered ball in a plastic milk bottle, according to Spokane County spokesperson Jared Webley. The bottle was shaken and a ball was drawn to determine the winner.
Walk's No. 2 ball rolled out first making him Fairfield's newest city council member. Watling was sick and couldn't make it to the tiebreaker.
According to Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton, Washington state law says in the case of a tie, a game of chance must be played. In Spokane County, chance comes in the form of a little brown milk bottle and numbered balls, Dalton said. This process is also how ballot order is decided.
"Spokane has used the milk bottle for 17 years," Dalton said. "The previous method was a toy battery-powered bingo ball dispenser that finally broke after decades of reliable service."
The milk bottle was purchased from a local billiards supply store for $2 plus tax, Dalton said.
The last time this method was used in Spokane County was for the 2013 Latah Town Council Position No. 1 race, according to Webley.
Fairfield is a small town in Spokane County southeast of Spokane. The 2010 U.S. Census listed the population as 612.
The following is an extended interview with Spokane Mayor-elect Nadine Woodward.