In a democracy, it is the people who decide who wins elections. But when the people can’t decide, we leave it up to total chance.

Two races for Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats in D.C. remained tied after the D.C. Board of Elections certified the final results from the Nov. 8 general election on Wednesday, thus triggering the rare yet legally mandated “drawing of lots” to determine the ultimate winner.

In the race for the ANC 6E02 seat in Mt. Vernon Square/Shaw, write-in candidates Charles Panfil and George Viedma tied with 12 votes apiece. And in the race for the new ANC 3E07 seat that encompasses a portion of the American University campus, candidates Diego Carney and Micah Rogers each got a single vote. (Yes, that means that the only votes they received were presumably their own; The Eagle recently reported that few students living on university campuses are registered to vote in D.C., thus complicating voter outreach efforts for candidates.)

D.C. law doesn’t mandate the method for the game of chance that will ultimately determine the winner; while flipping a coin is an acceptable method, a name picked out of a hat was the preferred method the last time a local race ended in a tie, back in 2020 and 2014 before that. (Yes, those were also ANC races.) Oddly enough, D.C. law is quite specific on the timing, making it sound like the competing candidates will be forced into a cowboy-style duel: “The candidates receiving the tie vote shall cast lots before the Board at 12:00 noon on a date to be set by the Board.”

A date hasn’t yet been set for the casting of lots, largely because there is a seven-day wait period for a recount to be requested. But given the small number of votes at play, recounts are unlikely. “Since I was told that the write-in votes were reviewed multiple times to confirm the tie, I see no need to request a recount,” Panfil tweeted this week.

Now, such games of chance to determine the winner of elections aren’t just a D.C. thing; a tied 2018 race for a somewhat more consequential seat in the Virginia House of Delegates drew national attention when the ultimate winner’s name was drawn from a film canister. In fact, some 28 states rely on chance to settle tied elections, while 14 (including Maryland) call a new election. Texas, being Texas, splits the difference by allowing candidates to choose a new election or a casting of lots. (If ever there was an appropriate place for a proper duel, we assume Texas would be it.)

There are some 350 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners across D.C., each representing districts of roughly 2,000 residents each. These elected volunteers are the city’s hyperlocal ears-on-the-ground; while they have little formal authority, they do weigh in on everything from liquor license applications to zoning changes. These races are often hotly contested, and sometimes petty: in late October some residents unsuccessfully tried to recall their ANC commissioner from office, and she later cruised to re-election.

Stay tuned to DCist/WAMU, because there’s a solid chance we’ll be covering the games of chance that will decide these two ANC elections.