Lots drawn to declare winners in 39 tied election races in Westmoreland County

Lady Luck eluded Nancy Peters on Friday afternoon.

Peters, an incumbent councilwoman in Jeannette, was one of 30 people who tied with one write-in vote in the Nov. 2 election for city controller.

Ties were broken Friday afternoon through a random casting of lots for that race — and 38 others.

Tiny, numbered blue marbles were placed in a plastic bottle covered in opaque tape. For every tied race, each candidate’s name was called in alphabetical order, and a numbered marble was drawn from the bottle. The candidate who received the marble marked with No. 1 was declared the winner.

Peters pulled the No. 21 marble.

“Things are meant to be,” said Peters, who doesn’t know who wrote her name on the ballot for the controller’s seat.

She was the lone candidate to appear in person at the courthouse to take her chance at winning an elected office.

Scott Ross, Westmoreland’s director of information systems who also oversees the county election bureau, pulled numbers for the dozens of other candidates in each of the tied races, including 28 open constable jobs, four council seats and positions as local auditors and tax collectors.

A list of winners will be posted on the county’s website, Ross said.

The results won’t be official until they are certified by the board of elections.

The board is scheduled to meet at 4:15 p.m. Monday to issue a final certification of the results. A precertification was approved this week to open a five-day appeal period in which candidates could file court challenges to the results, including the county’s tally of write-in votes.

For the Jeannette controller’s seat, 28 numbers were drawn before the No. 1 marble was chosen for Jody Weightman, and she was declared the winner.

Weightman, according to voting records, is a 63-year-old Republican from Jeannette. She could not be reached for comment.

Peters said she was ready to serve the city in a new position if luck had been on her side. She’s served as a member of city council for the past four years but lost her reelection bid this month.

“I spent 20 years as a recreation director. The city is my life, and I would have accepted the position if offered,” Peters said.