A drawing determined what an election and recount failed to do.

The next Carter County Sheriff will be DJ Long.

Long’ s name was drawn from a container following a recount that had moments of drama mixed with the redundant sound of ballots being checked and rechecked in the Carter County Courthouse Friday afternoon. Long will be sworn in to take office in January, taking the place of Sheriff Chris Bryant who has served two terms in office.

The two candidates ended the primary election with 2,596 votes each, setting in motion the possibility of a drawing. Bryant filed for a recount on June 21 after five provisional ballots were dismissed, leaving the two deadlocked. A special meeting of the Carter County Election Board was called for the recount to take place.

“You know what’s funny, I just l knew in my heart from the very beginning, the day that we were tied that it was going to come down to drawing from this hat,” Long said. “That is certainly what happened. So here we are.”

The county had not had a drawing to determine an election winner since the Lone Grove city commissioner race in 2013. Long said plans have begun for the transition into his new job and will continue to take place leading into the new year.

“We have been in preparation, thinking about what needs to be done and how to address it and where to begin,” Long said. “Now we have up until January when we take office to get things lined out. So, I’m excited to be able to have the opportunity to go do it.”

Following the drawing of Long’s name and a vote to end the special meeting, Bryant walked over to Long to offer his congratulations.

“Congratulations to DJ Long,” Bryant said. “The drawing, it’s sad that it comes down to a drawing out of a hat or a bucket if you will. This shows how important it is for people to get out and vote.”

Bryant said he is working with legislators to get change Oklahoma State Statute 26-8-105, replacing a drawing with a runoff election. Bryant said he will help Long anyway that he can in the coming months.

“This just means God has better plans for me,” Bryant said.

The recount process began later than planned after it was discovered two boxes filled with ballots from Precinct 32 in western Carter County had not been secured with tape. Election Board Secretary Diane Hall took the stand and answered questions from District Judge Dennis Morris along with Long’s attorney Larra Williams and Bryant’s attorney AJ Ferate.

Hall testified about the storage protocol along with nothing had been captured on a security camera that indicated tampering. Boxes 2 and 3, which had been unsecured, were opened and examined by both attorneys and Hall. The ballots found in the boxes were unvoted ballots. Box 1, which was secured with tape, had both voted and unvoted ballots. The tape to secure boxes 2 and 3 was also located inside of Box 1.

Neither attorney had an objection to proceed following the examination and questioning. The final count matched the number of ballots that were recorded on primary day.

“I am glad that our human count was the same as the machines,” Hall said. “This just means our machines are very, very accurate.

“I am glad this is over. It has been a long day. I hated that it came to a draw but that is what happens when you have a tie.”

During the recount, two ballots were challenged that went before the election board for a ruling. One challenge was overruled on a 3-0 vote and the second was overruled on a 2-1 vote.

A petition for writ of prohibition was filed by Long, acting through Williams and Jason May against the election board during the recount, challenging the 2-1 vote. The filing stated a ballot from Precinct 32 was counted for Bryant although it contained markings indicating the voter has cast votes for both Bryant and Long. The petition cited the rules for counting ballots manually which states if valid markings are made in the voting targets of two candidates for the same office, the ballot cannot be counted for any candidate for that office.

“Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about none of that,” Long said.

Following the recount, the results were notarized, and Hall announced Long’s name in the drawing as he sat with family and retired APD officer Phil Shepard.

“I have said it a thousand times and I will say it again,” Long said. “All you can do is pray that what God’s will is, is what is best for the community and what is best for the community is what happened. Now it is our responsibility to do that.”