Tiebreaker confirms Sonneville for Orchard Lake City Council

ORCHARD LAKE — Unofficial results for the Nov. 4 election showed DuAnne Sonneville leading Sean O’Bryan by three votes for the last seat on the Orchard Lake City Council. Ten days later, they would face off in a tiebreaker, reconfirming Sonneville.

Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown explained the process. 

“Those were the unofficial results; not all ballots had been counted yet,” Brown said. “We have to wait basically a week after the election for any military or overseas voters’ ballots. ... As long as their ballots are post-marked by Election Day and received within six days of Election Day, their ballots will be counted.” 

In addition, cured absentee ballot are also counted. These are absentee ballots that may not have been signed or where the signatures don’t appear to match.

“(Local clerks) have an obligation to reach out to the voter to correct that,” Brown said. “Those (ballots) that come in after Election Day are also added to the canvass.” 

More ballots came in for the Orchard Lake race.

“So, it ended up in a tie once all ballots were counted,” Brown said.

On Nov. 13, Sonneville and O’Bryan were notified it was a tie. They were instructed to visit the Oakland County Elections Division in Pontiac Nov. 14 to settle the tie.

“My reaction was, ‘Why did I not hear before this,’” Sonneville said. “After 10 days, it was certainly unexpected.” 

She confirmed the situation with officials at Orchard Lake City Hall, who had also received calls from Oakland County regarding the need for a tiebreaker. 

O’Bryan had a similar reaction. 

“When I got the call, I was absolutely stunned,” he said. “My wife Natalia said, ‘Oh no, we’re reopening that chapter,’ and that’s exactly how I felt.” 

Brown described the way a tie is resolved.

First, a coin with heads and tails is shown to each candidate, and each is assigned a side. The coin is then flipped and allowed to fall on the floor. 

The candidate that has the winning side reaches into a box containing two folded pieces of paper. One reads “elected” and the other reads “not elected.” 

Sonneville won the toss and chose first. Then O’Bryan followed. Each unfolded the paper at the same time. Sonneville’s paper said “elected,” so she remains the winner. 

Both Sonneville and O’Bryan called it a historic occasion. Brown said a tiebreaker has happened before in Oakland County, but she was not aware of one in Orchard Lake.

“It was a very interesting process, and it was so cool to see democracy in action,” said O’Bryan. “It was quite a privilege to be part of something like this.” 

Sonneville agreed it was a unique experience.

“It’s probably not something most people will ever see,” she said. 

A coin toss and reaching into a box might seem simple in this age of technology. 

“People are surprised that’s how a tie is determined,” Brown said. “That’s what we have in our law, so that’s what we do.” 

This will be Sonneville’s third term on the Orchard Lake City Council. She was term limited after two consecutive three-year terms and had to sit out at least one year. She sat out two years and was then able run again. 

The official vote for the Orchard Lake City Council race includes Kevin G. Kroger at 315 votes (39.57%), Sean J. O’Bryan at 239 votes (30.03%), and DuAnne Sonneville at 240 votes (30.15%). There were two rejected write-ins and no unassigned write-in for a total of 796 votes.