Or why not give duelling pistols to George and Al and let them work out who's president-elect the manly, old-fashioned way? (Hey, it was good enough for Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.) Deadlocked Vote Solved by Drawing By JOHN FLESHER .c The Associated Press FIFE LAKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - There were no complaints about chads - hanging, pregnant or otherwise. No threats of lawsuits. No spinmeisters or chanting demonstrators. Republican challenger Marianne ``Toni'' Larson and Democratic incumbent Dave Stremlow drew slips of paper from a small pine box Monday to break a 297-297 tie in the not-so-hard-fought race for supervisor of Fife Lake Township. The victor: Larson, whose slip read ``Elected.'' (The loser's slip read ``Not Elected.'') ``This is so bizarre,'' the 66-year-old Larson said, displaying her winning lot for news photographers. ``But this election process does work.'' Stremlow, 70, shook Larson's hand, wished her luck and left. A retired autoworker who was seeking a second four-year term, Stremlow initially thought he had squeaked to a one-vote victory. The election night count Nov. 7 produced a result of 297-296. Larson requested a hand recount, which resulted in a deadlock. A bipartisan group of inspectors agreed that the optical scanning voting machine had erroneously rejected a ballot marked for her. State law prescribes a drawing to settle ties. Another drawing is scheduled for Thursday in the Upper Peninsula, where both candidates for clerk of Alger County's Onota Township received 94 votes. Janelle Snyder had been declared the winner by two votes over Mary Hanson and sworn into office before a recount changed the outcome. In Grand Traverse County, where Fife Lake is located, county clerk Linda Coburn said she could recall one other drawing in a local election more than a decade ago. But there was considerably less interest back then. The contrast between the orderly, civil resolution of the Fife Lake Township contest and the convoluted, bitter presidential slugfest was hard to miss. ``We're doing things the right way up here,'' said Cindy Williams, a nurse at the medical center in Fife Lake, a village so small it has no traffic light. ``I'm so tired of that Florida business.'' The rural township, which includes the village, has a population of about 1,500. It is 250 miles northwest of Detroit in the forested northwestern corner of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. A one-time logging town, it is now a bedroom community for nearby cities and is becoming popular with retirees. The lake for which the village is named is ringed by fishing cabins. Larson served as township clerk the last eight years, keeping records and handling the payroll. The part-time supervisor's post, which pays $6,500, deals more with policy. By all accounts, the race was friendly - and low-budget. Larson figures she spent about $50 to produce and distribute a flier. ``They're both good people,'' said Susan Chastney, who succeeds Larson as clerk. ``I'd have been happy with either one.'' Might George W. Bush and Al Gore have done the country a favor by resolving things as easily? ``Amen to that,'' Larson said with a laugh. ``We could probably count and recount and protest and what have you, but the law is the law, and this is what we go by.''
