Guy's City Council Race in Tie After Wife Doesn't Vote

'I didn't think one vote would matter,' candidate says
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2012 12:26 PM CST
Guy's City Council Race in Tie After Wife Doesn't Vote
I Voted stickers are seen at a polling place in Billings, Mont., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

They say every vote counts, but how often does that actually turn out to be true? In Walton, Kentucky, it most definitely held true on Tuesday—and probably in the weirdest way possible. When Robert McDonald's wife—who works nights and is also going to school and raising three children—woke up just 10 minutes before polls closed, he told her not to worry about voting. McDonald, 27, is running for city council, but thought he had done enough to win, Cincinnati.com reports. Plus, "I told her I didn't think one vote would matter," he says.

Oh, but it did: McDonald ended up tying Olivia Ballou for the last seat, 669 votes to 669 votes. "If she had just been able to get in to vote, we wouldn’t be going through any of this," McDonald laments. "You never think it will come down to one vote, but I’m here to tell you that it does." He doesn't blame his wife, however, noting that she worked extra hours. (And before you ask, absentee voting wasn't an option.) Now McDonald will rely on a coin toss to determine whether he or Ballou gets the final seat. (More strange stuff stories.)

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