§11-157  In case of tie.  In case of the
failure of an election by reason of the equality of vote between two or more
candidates, the tie shall be decided by the chief election officer or county
clerk in the case of county elections in accordance with the following
procedure:



(1)  In the case of an election involving a seat for
the senate, house of representatives, board of education, or county council
where only voters within a specified district are allowed to cast a vote, the
winner shall be declared as follows:



(A)  For each precinct in the affected
district, an election rate point shall be calculated by dividing the total
voter turnout in that precinct by the total voter turnout in the district.  For
the purpose of this subparagraph, the absentee votes cast for the affected
district shall be treated as a precinct.  The election rate point shall be
calculated by dividing the total absentee votes cast for the affected district
by the total voter turnout in that district.  All election rate points shall be
expressed as decimal fractions rounded to the nearest hundred thousandth.



(B)  The candidate with the highest number of
votes in a precinct shall be allocated the election rate point calculated under
subparagraph (A) for that precinct.  In the event that two or more persons are
tied in receiving the highest number of votes for that precinct, the election
rate point shall be equally apportioned among those candidates involved in that
precinct tie.



(C)  After the election rate points calculated
under subparagraph (A) for all the precincts have been allocated as provided
under subparagraph (B), the election rate points allocated to each candidate
shall be tallied and the candidate with the highest election rate point total
shall be declared the winner.



(D)  If there is a tie between two or more
candidates in the election rate point total, the candidate who is allocated the
highest election rate points from the precinct with the largest voter turnout
shall be declared the winner.



(2)  In the case of an election involving a federal
office or an elective office where the voters in the entire State or in an
entire county are allowed to cast a vote, the winner shall be declared as
follows:



(A)  For each representative district in the
State or county, as the case may be, an election rate point shall be calculated
by dividing the total voter turnout in that representative district by the
total voter turnout in the state, county, or federal office district, as the
case may be; provided that for purposes of this subparagraph:



(i)  The absentee votes cast for a statewide,
countywide, or federal office shall be treated as a separate representative
district and the election rate point shall be calculated by dividing the total
absentee votes cast for the statewide, countywide, or federal office by the
total voter turnout in the state, county, or federal office district, as the
case may be.



(ii)  The overseas votes cast for any election in
the State for a federal office shall be treated as a separate representative
district and the election rate point shall be calculated by dividing the total
number of overseas votes cast for the affected federal office by the total
voter turnout in the affected federal office district.  The term "overseas
votes" means those votes cast by absentee ballots for a presidential
election as provided in section 15-3.



All
election rate points shall be expressed as decimal fractions rounded to the
nearest hundred thousandth.



(B)  The candidate with the highest number of
votes in a representative district shall be allocated the election rate point
calculated under subparagraph (A) for that district.  In the event that two or
more persons are tied in receiving the highest number of votes for that
district, the election rate point shall be equally apportioned among those
candidates involved in that district tie.



(C)  After the election rate points calculated
under subparagraph (A) for all the precincts have been allocated as prescribed
under subparagraph (B), the election rate points allocated to each candidate
shall be tallied and the candidate with the election rate point total shall be
declared the winner.



(D)  If there is a tie between two or more
candidates in the election rate point total, the candidate who is allocated the
highest election rate points from the representative district with the largest
voter turnout shall be declared the winner. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; gen ch
1985; am L 1990, c 198, §2; am L 1996, c 239, §2]