2 hat draws will decide Franklin County election stalemates

    The results are in, but two city races in Coulter and Hansell won’t be decided until the winners’ names are drawn from a hat next week.
    Yes, a hat.
    Write-in candidate Mark Brown and incumbent Coulter Mayor James Warwick tied with 16 votes apiece during Tuesday’s election. The stalemate will force the board of supervisors to draw the winner’s name out of a hat, which is standard protocol dictated by Iowa Code according to Franklin County Auditor Michelle Giddings.
    The supervisors will also use the time-honored process to decide the fate of a stalemate in Hansell. City council contender Ben McKinney and write-in candidate Jess Harlan tied with nine votes apiece Tuesday, forcing a hat draw. Other candidates elected to the Hansell City Council included Colten Harper, Michael Norman, Daryl Norman and Joe Hannah.
    The deadlock marked the second-straight election Hansell had a tie for a city council seat. In 2013, Deloris Cunningham and Jason Harper drew a stalemate.
    The board of supervisors will canvass the election results and draw names on Monday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m., in the Franklin County Law Enforcement Center. The meeting is open to the public.