RIENZI, Miss. – This election was a coin toss, literally. Incumbent Harold Palmer and Melissa Morgan tied in a runoff election in Rienzi, earning 45 votes each.
“At first it didn’t make sense but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. I’m glad its over with either way,” said Palmer. “It saves a little town like ours a lot of money.”
Rienzi has about 350 residents total.
Palmer says the coin toss method is actually in the town’s by-laws, it allows the community to either flip a coin or draw straws to settle a drawn in an election. In this case the election commission flipped coins.
“It was three election commissioners and they got reputable citizens of the town. The citizens of the town, one of them flipped. The other called it.”
Palmer calls himself the flip alderman.
