Saskatchewan man gets elected in unexpected way

A town a little more than an hour south of Regina had one race in its municipal election decided in an unexpected way.

Scott Biss, a candidate for councillor in Radville, was elected after his name was drawn from a hat.

The town had eight people vying for six seats on council, with the sixth spot ending up in a tie between Biss and another candidate.

“The guy that I was tied with was actually there counting with us, so we all knew that it was tied but nobody knew what the answer was,” Biss said. “We thought maybe we should do rock-paper-scissors: ‘How are we going to decide this?’ ”

Luckily, there was someone who knew what to do. The returning officer who was responsible for the election in that district determined the course of action.

Two pieces of paper that were of identical size, texture and colour had the two candidates’ names written on them. The pieces of paper were then shaken up in a hat, and Biss was picked as the victor.

“It’s funny. I’ve had a few guys text me and call me,” Biss said as he chuckled over the phone. “They said, ‘You can thank me. If I didn’t vote for you, you would have lost by one.’ ”

The town’s new council will have its first meeting in two weeks.

“I won by the skin of my teeth,” Biss said, “or in this case, by my name in a hat.”