Above: The Twilight Zone logo, via Wikipedia.
As reported by Michael Ryan for The Daily Mail last week, the Greene County town of Lexington is in limbo after last month's election.
Candidates for the town's five-member town council are in an unusual tie: The final count shows Democratic incumbent Lynn Byrne and Republican challenger William Pushman are deadlocked at 165 votes each.
According to the Daily Mail, nobody expected this:
It appeared a winner would certainly emerge, given the odd number of absentee ballots, but one ballot was left blank and Byrne and Pushman each received 8 additional votes, producing a very rare situation and possibly launching the rural community into a governing Twilight Zone.
The article reports that Greene County Board of Elections rules dictate that where there is no clear winner, the seat is considered a vacancy that can be filled by appointment as of January 1, 2012.
However, that won't solve things, because the new town council will be evenly divided along Democratic and Republican party lines, making it unlikely that it will choose one of the two tied candidates.
The other options are to 1) find someone else to fill in or 2) to leave the position vacant until next November's election where, no matter what is decided now, the position will open to candidates for the final three years of the four year term.
Adding to the intrigue is that present town council member Republican Glenn Howard has moved out of the town of Lexington and may be stepping down before January, according to the story. This means the present town council, again split along party lines, would have difficulty agreeing on a replacement. If no replacement for Howard is found before January 1, the town council could end up as a three-member council with two vacancies.
With two vacancies it is theoretically possible to have both Byrne and Pushman take positions on the town council. Glenn Howard could resign, William Pushman could take over his position, and in January Lynn Byrne could take over the open position left by the tied vote. It would be a win-win situation in which voters' choices are recognized and party line entanglements are avoided, resulting in a full town council in place.
But will it happen that way? It will be interesting to follow what course Lexington takes with its town governance.
Ryan points out that another outcome is possible, one that wouldn't be good for anyone:
If Howard resigns before January 1, the remaining four council members, two Democrats and two Republicans, would choose his replacement. It is not impossible but again, highly unlikely, given the local political climate, that either Party would willingly relinquish power.
A major concern, if neither side flinches, is that the four-member council will be irreparably split along Party lines after January 1, potentially stopping any legislation or resolution in its tracks at least until next November.
