NORRISTOWN — Democrat Kofi Osei has won a seat on the Towamencin Township Board of Supervisors after breaking a vote tie on Thursday by drawing lots with Republican opponent, incumbent Rich Marino.
Each participated in Montgomery County’s drawing of lots on Thursday at One Montgomery Plaza in Norristown. Proceedings are mandated by state law in the event of a tied race. Candidates approached Senior Assistant Solicitor John Marlatt, who held a small basket filled with numbers written on slips of paper. Marlatt explained the candidate who chose the lower number would be deemed the winner.
Marino picked 28 and Osei selected 15. Claps and cheers could be heard from audience members who came to the county seat to witness the post-election proceedings.
“It’s crazy. There’s been a lot happening in Towamencin. So to end on a drawing of lots is definitely crazy,” Osei told MediaNews Group following the drawing.
“My feeling is at this point is that I did not lose the election…I just picked the wrong number,” Marino said.
In addition to the Towamencin Township race, an Upper Perkiomen School District board seat was decided by drawing.
Republican Trina Schaarschmidt selected eight, while Montgomery County Chief Operating Officer Lee Soltysiak, representing her fellow Republican opponent Michael Long, picked 14.
“It feels great. I’m excited. I’m excited to get on the board and to see what we can make happen with everybody who’s on the board, the whole new makeup of the board,” Schaarschmidt told MediaNews Group.
Updated vote totals posted by Montgomery County on Monday, Nov. 27 2023 showed Towamencin supervisor Rich Marino and challenger Kofi Osei tied with 3,035 votes each in the race for the seat currently held by Marino. The Upper Perkiomen School District school board race had Long and Schaarschmidt tied at 3,150 each, with figures comprised from both Berks and Montgomery counties.
It’s unclear when the last time Montgomery County officials conducted a drawing of lots, but Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr., who also serves as chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, said it was a first for him.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Lawrence told MediaNews Group. “Candidates work very hard to get to this point, but it shows that every vote counts. I think it’s incredible that we had two races that ended up being tied after everything was counted and verified.”
Sewer sale at center of contest
Thursday’s selection marks the next step in the township’s long-running debate over selling the township’s sewer system, between proponents led by Marino and opponents led by Osei.
A one-term incumbent Republican, U.S. Marine, and head of a local road construction company, Marino was one of the four supervisors who voted to sell the system and cited a need to fund road repair and infrastructure projects across the township. Democrat challenger and actuarial analyst Osei founded the “Towamencin NOPE” resident group that has mobilized to stop the sale, then was one of the residents who sued the supervisors this summer to take the dispute to court.
Opponents of the sale won an election victory in November 2022 authorizing the establishment of a “government study commission” that Osei chaired, which wrote a new township charter with provisions they argue make the sale illegal, and that charter was approved by township voters this past May and took effect July 1.
The divide in the township has been mirrored in the race results: election night unofficial vote totals posted by Montgomery County had Osei ahead by a margin of 1,167 votes to 510 for Marino from only mail ballots, then later that night the lead had flipped, with Marino leading the election day votes by 711 to Osei’s lead in mail votes of 657 ballots cast. Updated county vote totals the morning after election day showed Marino totaling 3,019 votes to 3,001 for Osei, and continued counting by the county had narrowed that lead to just five votes by the week after the election.
Osei laughed as this election hit close to home for him.
“My dad’s overseas right now and I kept telling him to get an overseas ballot but he said it doesn’t matter because I’m going to win. So I’m glad he had the trust,” he said.
Marino said Thursday afternoon that the selection may not be the end of the process: “From the feedback I am getting, this court decision changing the rules after election day and after voters had cast their ballots does not sit well with a lot of people.”
“I feel I owe it to them as well as those that supported me to pursue the options that are available to me. In addition, there is strong sentiment that this is an issue that needs to be resolved before the 2024 election. Given that, I see an appeal of some sort down the road,” he said.
Lawrence underscored the importance of voter participation in all elections.
“It’s what the law requires,” Lawrence said of the drawing of lots process. “When you get to the point when you’re not going to have another election, but I think it shows again when someone says my vote doesn’t matter — one vote would have made a difference in both of these races. One more voter.”
Both candidates had earlier sounded off on social media about the tight race, and a federal court ruling regarding undated ballots that led to the most recent count showing both candidates tied. In a Facebook post Sunday, Marino said he felt he had won based on the rules in place at the time of the election, heard concerns about mail voting, and thought the rules should not be changed after the election had been held. Osei said he thought the close margins for this race were due in part to Marino’s personal popularity, and in part due to personal attacks against himself, while already eyeing the township’s next round of supervisor seat elections in 2025.
“It’s always hard running against an incumbent, and I was really happy to get all the support in Towamencin … it was a pretty contentious race, and it seemed like people who voted on both sides had a really strong opinion,” Osei said. “Hopefully when I get seated, we can start to close some of those divisions.”
Looking ahead, Osei said he plans to “take a break” and study up in order to “to do the office as best I can do” before the results are officially certified and he’s sworn in. Osei added delving into the township’s comprehensive plan will be a top priority once he settles into office.
“We’re starting our comprehensive plan process and that is a big campaign point of mine, especially being one of the younger residents in Towamencin … I think it is very exciting,” he said.
All results are considered unofficial until certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections. The process was delayed last week following a federal ruling, and a vote to certify is expected to take place Monday afternoon.
