Deceased Alaskan Woman Wins Reelection With Coin Toss

Deceased Alaskan Woman Wins Reelection With Coin Toss

October 31, 2006 9:39 p.m. EST

Russell McSpadden - All Headline News News Writer
Anchorage, AK (AHN) - An Alaska woman who died earlier this month won reelection to a rural school board when her opponent called "heads" on a coin toss that landed on "tails" last week. The coin toss broke the electoral tie between the two candidates, with the deceased woman as the victor, Alaska officials report.

Katherine Dunton died of cancer on October 3, the day of the local election. She and her opponent, Dona Highstone ran neck and neck and the election tie had to be broken by a democratic coin toss.

"This is the first that I have ever heard about, not only in our state but in any other," said Whitney Brewster, director of the Alaska Division of Elections.

The coin toss functioned as the official tiebreaker and is official procedure of Alaska state law. Both candidates received 19 votes.

Dunton won a position on the Aleutian Region School District board, a district, which covers an island region with just over 59 students.

The school board has yet to decide exactly how Dunton's seat will be filled.