Last week, the Board of Elections certified that Eydie Whittington won the Ward 8 D.C. Council race by two votes. (The absentee ballots of Mayor Marion Barry, who vacated the seat, and Cora Barry, who managed Whittington’s campaign, perhaps?) But a judge ruled the seat should not be filled, pending a recount requested by runner-up Sandy Allen. Things will really get interesting if the recount yields a tie. According to board spokesperson Leona Agouridis, there is no provision for a runoff election—a tie would be settled by drawing lots. At high noon, on a day of the board’s choosing, two pieces of paper would be put into a hat held over a board member’s head. Each candidate would draw a lot and “the candidate to whom the [winning] lot shall fall shall be declared the winner.” The only time this arcane system has been used to settle a municipal election was when David White and Hannah Hawkins drew lots to decide the winner of Advisory Neighborhood Commission District 8A. Hawkins got the long end of the stick and took the seat. In the case of another Ward 8 lottery, candidates might take heed of the Old Testament advisement from Leviticus: “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.”