Heads or tails? Cabarrus County elections officials flip a coin to decide tied race
Cabarrus County left an election outcome to chance Friday, flipping an 1880s silver dollar to settle a perfectly tied Mount Pleasant commissioners race.
The winner, Elizabeth Poole, said election staff told her it was the first time a Cabarrus County contest had ever been decided by a coin toss. A bipartisan hand-to-eye recount that morning reaffirmed the 84–84 tie between Poole and incumbent William Meadows.
“They have four ladies that did that, two Republicans and two Democrats, and so that verified that we were, in fact, tied,” Poole told The Charlotte Observer.
North Carolina law requires tied races to be settled “by lot,” and county officials chose a single coin flip over drawing straws, Poole said. The Cabarrus County Board of Elections chair offered her the chance to call it, but Poole said she didn’t want the responsibility. Meadows, seated behind her, called heads.
Officials used a “real pretty” silver dollar from the 1880s, Poole said, with Lady Liberty marking heads and an eagle for tails. She said they tossed it high and let it land on the carpet to avoid scratching it. The room was silent as everyone waited for the call.
“It’s tails,” Poole recalled hearing. “Ms. Poole, you’re the winner.”
Poole said there was a brief cheer and she shook Meadows’s hand afterward. If she had been forced to make the call, she claimed she would have chosen tails.
“I’m pretty happy,” Poole said. “I’m doing great right now.”
Poole previously served on the Cabarrus County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners. She said she looks forward to focusing on roads and aging school facilities and once sworn in.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “I enjoy this kind of work.”
The last time a Charlotte-area race was decided by coin toss was in 2023, when Monroe Mayor Robert Burns won the tie-breaker with “tails.” That race was tied at 970 votes each.
Poole said she did not get to keep the coin that decided her fate.
