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A Republican Party precinct race that deadlocked following the June 2 primary election had to be decided using a high-stakes game of chance.

Timothy Tiahrt and Scott Swanson each ended up with 152 votes in the VP-09 race in Minnehaha County. Not only did they tie with the total number of votes, they also had identical vote totals for day-of-election ballots – 138 – and absentee ballots – 14.

After the official election canvass, Judge Robin Houwman, who presides over the Second Judicial Circuit, appointed a committee to recount the ballots. When the recount failed to garner a winner, it was time to resort to a tiebreaker.