Luck of the draw: Playing cards to settle tied election

At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, two Nye County Commission candidates will meet at the courthouse in Pahrump to break their primary election tie with a deck of playing cards.

What Sam Merlino hopes to avoid is an embarrassing game of 52 Pickup before the draw takes place.

The Nye County clerk said she plans to practice her shuffling between now and Thursday's unusual election tiebreaker.

"It's been a while since I played cards," Merlino explained. "I don't want to make a total fool of myself with the all those cameras around."

The June 8 Republican primary ended in a 381-381 tie between County Commissioner Andrew "Butch" Borasky and challenger Carl Moore Sr. When a recount last week failed to change the result, the only thing left to do was "draw lots" as spelled out in state statute.

They could have flipped a coin, rolled dice or drawn straws, but the two men agreed on cards as their preferred tiebreaker.

"What's the difference? If it's luck, it's luck," Borasky said.

"I'm absolutely ready to get this over with," said Moore. "I wish there was some other way to do (it), but that's what the law says so that's what we're going to do."

It will work like this: Merlino will take out a brand new deck of cards, still in the wrapper, and open it in front of the two men. The jokers will be removed and the cards fanned out for inspection. Then Merlino will shuffle the deck, and Borasky and Moore will establish the rules for aces (high or low?) or what to do in the event of a tie (draw again or let suit decide?).

After that, it will be a simple game of high card wins.

The only part of the process Merlino did not leave open to debate was the location for the draw. She said there was talk of holding the tiebreaker at a Pahrump casino that agreed to play host, presumably in exchange for the chance to market the event. Merlino shot the idea down.

"Even though it's kind of a silly thing to draw cards to decide an election, it's still a serious matter. There's still integrity involved, and it just needs to be done at the courthouse," she said.

Borasky agreed. "I don't want to make a circus out of it, and that's what it probably would have turned into" at a casino..

The winner of the draw will advance to the Nov. 2 general election to take on Libertarian candidate Sandra Darby.

Borasky said it would be sad if the cut doesn't go his way, especially after he survived a recall and spent four years fighting "in the trenches" just to make it through his first term. But, "I'm pretty upbeat and positive. I'm going to walk away with my head held high whatever happens," he said.

As for his strategy for Thursday's big draw, the poker aficionado said that's an easy one: "Pick the ace of spades, and I'll be all set."

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.