City Council Candidate Loses by One Vote After Not Voting for Himself
The single vote that won Ryan Roth his election was his own
Getty
A candidate for a city council post in Rainier, Wash. has lost his election by just one vote — after failing to vote himself.
Damion Green lost the Rainier City Council post 247 votes to 246, with his opponent, Ryan Roth, ultimately coming out on top, the Washington Post reports.
The election, which took place Nov. 7, was so close that it took nearly a month for officials to determine the winner. Last Friday, they announced that Roth had won – by just one vote.
"The Thurston County Canvassing Board certified the Rainier City Council Position No. 2 contest," officials announced on Dec. 1. "The board certified Ryan Roth won the election by 1 vote."
And it appears that single vote may have been his own.
Related: Mike Pence Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race: 'This Is Not My Time'
The Post reports that Roth mailed his own ballot — which he checked for himself — a few days prior to election day, after putting off early voting when daily life got in the way.
But Green, a 40-year-old auto shop worker, did not cast a ballot at all, telling the Post: “I’m not good at tooting my own horn."
Roth, a 33-year-old landfill manager, acknowledged how important his own vote was, telling the outlet, “It just came down to my vote, I guess."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
According to Thurston County, Wash. officials, a mandatory manual recount was triggered due to the shockingly slim percentage difference between the candidates — just 0.2%. A three-person counting board hand tallied ballots in each of Rainier’s two precincts, with totals then checked against machine counts by a two-person verification board, officials said.
Even with his loss, Green expressed no sense of defeat, telling the Post he had met Roth and felt he would make a solid choice for the role. “I really didn’t campaign much just because I knew if either one of us won, the city would win,” he told the outlet. “It was a win-win.”
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
