By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Board of Elections Chairman Timothy Burke flips a coin Tuesday afternoon to decide the winner of the third Lincoln Heights council seat as Lois Graham and Isaiah Crawford look on. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

With a flip of an Ohio quarter, a Lincoln Heights woman won a seat Tuesday on the Village Council.

Maybe.

La Verne Mitchell and Richard Ceaser each got 328 votes on Nov. 4, according to election results certified Tuesday by the Board of Elections. Board Chairman Tim Burke flipped a coin to decide the race, and Mitchell came up the winner.

She can't count herself home free yet, because the Board of Elections is going to recount Lincoln Heights ballots Monday. The coin toss comes into play only if the race is still a tie in the recount.

The board also ordered a recount in Fairfax. The village's attempt to pass a 0.5 percent income-tax increase also was a tie, with the votes split at 283. An issue fails unless it gets a majority.

Races in which two candidates finish within half a percentage point of each other also are automatically recounted.

The ninth seat on Cincinnati City Council falls in that category this year. Incumbent David Crowley received 5.27 percent of the vote, to candidate Damon Lynch III's 5.1 percent - a difference of 738 votes.

Recounts will also be automatic in close school board races in five communities:

• Madeira, five votes separate John Gilster an` Mickey Beyersdorfer.

• In Norwood, 16 votes separate Debi Cochran Gay and Kate Pope.

• In Reading, 14 votes separate Robert Longworth and Vicki Solomon.

• In Winton Woods, nine votes separate Cynthia Lee-Richardson and Priscilla Franklin.

• In Forest Hills, 49 votes separate Winnie Clayton and Bob Goodman.

Candidates who didn't qualify for an automatic recount may request one by 4 p.m. Monday. However, they have to pay $10 per precinct to be recounted.

The Board of Elections also decided not to refer for prosecution alleged voter registration violations by Larry Frazier. Frazier finished next-to-last in the Cincinnati council race.

A tie race is uncommon but not unheard-of, and Ohio law requires it to be settled by lot, which could also include drawing straws or rolling dice. St. Bernard Councilman Curtis Walden kept his 4th Ward seat on a coin toss in 1997 after three recounts proved the results a tie.

"It has happened most frequently in smaller races, which is what we had here," Burke said.

There may end up being no losers in Lincoln Heights:

Another councilman resigned in October and Ceaser could be appointed to that seat, according to Isaiah Crawford, president of Lincoln Heights' Democratic Party.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com