In a remote village high in the Peruvian Andes, two mayoral candidates who received exactly the same number of votes had their electoral fate decided not by a runoff or a recount, but by the flip of a coin — a procedure mandated by the country’s electoral law.
The contest took place in Conima, a municipality of roughly 3,500 residents near Lake Titicaca. In municipal elections held a month earlier, Rubén Quispe of Somos Perú and Salomino Mamani of País para Todo each secured 671 votes. The deadlock was confirmed only after all tally sheets had been counted and verified.
Legal Recourse to Chance
To break the tie, the Special Electoral Jury of Huancané applied a provision of Peruvian law that stipulates that when two candidates finish level, the winner is determined by drawing lots — either by coin toss or by numbered balls.
The ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 4. A one-sol Peruvian coin was used for the toss. Quispe chose the tails side, bearing the image of a sun, and fortune favored him when the electoral authority’s representative flipped the coin into the air.
Winner Credits Divine Intervention
“My goal was always to win, and now it has been decided by the Lord,” the newly elected mayor told reporters after the unusual outcome.
The result brings an end to a month of uncertainty in Conima, where the perfect tie had left the community without a designated winner since the municipal elections. The coin toss, though unconventional by most electoral standards, was carried out in accordance with the country’s established legal framework for resolving such deadlocks.
