The Virginia State Board of Elections has postponed plans for a name-drawing on Wednesday to decide the winner of a deadlocked House of Delegates race — and possibly which party controls the chamber — after one of the candidates announced plans for a court challenge over whether the election was really a tie. 
 
 The rare spectacle of filling a legislative seat by drawing one of two candidates' names out of a pitcher has drawn widespread interest, in no small part because a Democratic victory would mean that the House, where Republicans had a 16-seat majority before the Nov. 7 elections, would be split 50-50 when the legislature convenes Jan. 10. 
 
 Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds said Tuesday that she would file a motion in Newport News Circuit Court on Wednesday, asking judges to reconsider their decision to count a disputed ballot as a vote for Republican incumbent David Yancey and declare the race a tie. 
 
 Simonds's lawyers said they could not file the motion Tuesday because the court was closed. They also said they had written to the Board of Elections asking it to postpone the name-drawing until the court decides whether to act in response to the motion. 
 
 [Settling a tied Virginia House race by drawing a name? Not that weird by history’s standards.] 
 
 Hours later, the Board of Elections announced that it had canceled plans for the 11 a.m. drawing. 
 
 "Drawing names is an action of last resort," the board said in written statement. "Any substantive concerns regarding the election or recount should be resolved before a random drawing is conducted." 
 
 The board, which must give 24 hours' notice before calling an emergency meeting, will not hold a drawing Wednesday even if the court rules that day. "We want to act in a transparent manner as there is no need for any more surprises with this election," the board said. 
 
 On Election Day, Yancey appeared to beat Simonds in the 94th legislative district race by 10 votes. But a Dec. 19 recount left Simonds ahead by a single vote. 
 
 
 
 This image provided by the City of Newport News via The Virginian-Pilot shows a copy of the ballot at the center of the recount dispute. (AP/AP) 
 
 The next day, a three-judge panel decided that a ballot that was declared ineligible during the recount should count for Yancey, tying the race at 11,608 votes apiece. The ballot in question contained a mark for Simonds as well as a mark for Yancey, and an extra mark by Simonds's name that the court ruled was an effort to strike out the mark in her favor. Republicans said the unknown voter had selected every other Republican on the ballot and intended to vote for Yancey. The panel of judges agreed. 
 
 If Simonds wins the seat, the House chamber will be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, forcing the parties into a rare power-sharing arrangement. If Yancey wins, the Republicans will retain their majority by the slimmest possible margin. 
 
 In her motion, Simonds asserts that the panel made a "clear legal error . . . [that] ran contrary to Virginia law" by counting the disputed ballot. "This is really about the integrity of elections in Virginia," she told reporters. She accused Yancey, a six-year incumbent, of trying to do "an end run" around proper election procedures. 
 
 Parker Slaybaugh, a spokesman for House Republicans, said in a statement that "the Court acted appropriately and . . . the integrity of the process is without question." The statement also noted that a recount in a separate House race involved a Democrat challenging a disputed ballot, which the court agreed to review and then counted for the Democratic candidate. 
 
 In their letter to the Board of Elections, Simonds's lawyers wrote that if the judges reconsider their finding that the contest was tied, there would be no need for a drawing. It also states that neither candidate would be harmed by a "brief delay" in naming a winner, so long as the process is completed by the time the General Assembly is gaveled into session on Jan. 10. 
 
 If the race is still in limbo by that date, neither candidate would be seated — giving Republicans control of the chamber with 50 seats to the Democrats' 49. 
 
 Clara Belle Wheeler, the lone Republican on the election board, said the matter should be settled before the legislature convenes. "I am of the very strong opinion that the people of Newport News need to have a representative in the House of Delegates," she said. 
 
 The last — and perhaps only other — time the state settled a tied election by "lot" was in 1971, when candidates for a House seat in Fairfax — Republican William H. Moss and Democrat Jim Burch — each received 16,410 votes. 
 
 Virginia uses the same procedure several times a year to decide ballot order for candidates. 
 
 
 
 Counters get help filling out the paperwork as they retabulate ballots for Virginia’s House District 94 on Dec. 19. (Joe Fudge/AP) 
 
 If there is a lot-drawing in the 94th District race, the loser could seek a second recount. 
 
 Democrats are also seeking a new election in a different House race that Republican Bob Thomas won by 73 votes, in which an apparent voter-registrar error led to 147 voters casting ballots in the wrong districts. 
 
 Katie Baker, a spokeswoman for the House Democrats, said Tuesday that the Democratic candidate in that race, Joshua Cole, will not contest the results with the state legislature — a last-ditch, rarely used measure. 
 
 But Cole is still asking a federal judge to order a new election. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5. His decision not to contest the election with the legislature was first reported by WTOP. 
 
 Before the Nov. 7 elections, Republicans outnumbered Democrats in the House 66-34. The GOP has a smaller, 21-to-19, edge in the state Senate, where tied votes can be broken by the incoming lieutenant governor, Democrat Justin Fairfax. 
 
 Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report. ||||| Control of Virginia's legislature hung in limbo Wednesday after a three-judge panel declined to certify the recount of a key House race, saying that a questionable ballot should be counted in favor of the Republican and tying a race that Democrats thought they had won by a single vote. 
 
 "The court declares there is no winner in this election," Newport News Circuit Court Judge Bryant L. Sugg said after the panel deliberated for more than two hours. 
 
 He said that the ballot in question contained a mark for Democrat Shelly Simonds as well as a mark for Republican Del. David Yancey but that the voter had made another mark to strike out Sim­onds's name. 
 
 Officials presiding over the five-hour recount on Tuesday had discarded that ballot en route to a historic reversal of the original election outcome. Yancey had emerged from Election Day with a 10-vote lead in the 94th District, but the recount uncovered enough additional ballots for Simonds to give her a one-vote victory. 
 
 That seemed to set up the House for a rare 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats, ending 17 years of GOP dominance and making headlines nationwide. 
 
 But Republicans challenged that decision in court Wednesday, saying the voter had selected every other Republican on the ballot and intended to vote for Yancey. 
 
 
 
 This is the ballot that was scrutinized in the race for the Virginia House of Delegates 94th District in Newport News, Va. (N/A/City of Newport News, Virginia) 
 
 [From Tuesday: A single vote leads to a rare tie for control of the Virginia legislature] 
 
 The judges — all of whom were elected by a Republican- 
 
 controlled legislature — agreed, leaving the race tied at 11,608 votes each for Yancey and Simonds. The balance of power in the House stands at 50-49 in favor of Republicans until the Newport News race can be resolved. 
 
 State law says the winner of a tied House race will be determined by lot — leaving the fate of the chamber to what is essentially a coin toss. 
 
 James Alcorn, chairman of the State Board of Elections, said the winner will be chosen by placing names on slips of paper into two film canisters and then drawing the canisters from a glass bowl (or his bowler hat). The drawing has been scheduled for Dec. 27 11 a.m. at the elections board in Richmond. 
 
 Complicating the tiebreaking vote is the need to ensure that both a Democratic and Republican representative of the three-member elections board will be available during the holidays. 
 
 "We were not planning to get together in the next week," said Alcorn, a Democrat appointed by outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). 
 
 But it doesn't end there. If the loser of the coin toss is unhappy with that result, he or she can seek a second recount. 
 
 [Virginia is holding recounts in four House races. Here’s how they work] 
 
 News of the court decision pulsed through political circles that, just a day before, had been roiled by the notion that Simonds had taken the seat from Yancey by a single vote in the recount. 
 
 As he was leaving the courthouse Wednesday, Yancey said "the ruling today makes certain every vote in this historic election was counted." 
 
 The turnaround shocked Democrats, who on social media were still celebrating their unlikely rise to power in the House of Delegates. Before the Nov. 7 elections, Republicans outnumbered Democrats in that chamber by 66 to 34. The GOP has a smaller, 21-to-19 edge in the state Senate, where ties votes can be broken by a Democratic lieutenant governor. With Democrat Ralph Northam set to take over as governor on Jan. 13, the party is primed to flex its newfound muscle. 
 
 But the Newport News outcome now leaves things unclear. The House Democratic Caucus vowed to fight the judges' decision, calling it "erroneous," though some legal experts expressed skepticism that the party has avenues for a challenge. 
 
 "We are currently assessing all legal options before us as we fight for a just result," said Marc Elias, the lawyer for the Democrats. "The Republicans themselves had affirmed that this result was accurate yesterday before changing their minds today. 
 
 "After conceding this seat and their majority, they are now desperately trying to claw both back 'like a snarling dog that won't let go of a bone,' " he said, quoting a recent editorial by the RichmondTimes-Dispatch. 
 
 [It was state lawmaker day at a local school and both Simonds and Yancey showed up] 
 
 But according to lawyers for Yancey, the questions about the recount's lone disputed ballot were a late-breaking surprise to them, as well. 
 
 Kenneth Mallory, a paid election official chosen by the Yancey team, had spotted the ballot about halfway through the Tuesday recount. He said he thought the ballot clearly looked like a vote for Yancey, but the other official he was working with — selected by Democrats — disagreed. 
 
 "I felt hurried to move on and proceed. I was new to this process, and I was caught up by his argument," Mallory wrote in a letter to the judges outlining his concerns. 
 
 The ballot was tossed aside as invalid, the precinct was wrapped up and the recount moved on. At the end of the day, Republican and Democratic officials alike stated that they were satisfied with the process and outcome. 
 
 But a volunteer observer working for Yancey — John Alvarado, who also happened to be Yancey's campaign manager — had seen Mallory's discomfort during the recount. State law limits the ability of observers to communicate with election officials during the recount, but afterward, Alvarado sounded the alarm with Yancey's legal team, according to Republican lawyer Trevor Stanley. 
 
 Stanley reached out to Mallory Tuesday evening, but Mallory declined to talk until he got assurances from the city's Electoral Board that he was allowed to do so, the lawyer said. 
 
 Mallory, meanwhile, said he had been agonizing about his failure to act during the recount. A middle school civics teacher, Mallory, 33, said in an interview that he had wanted to take part in the recount so he could talk about it with his students. 
 
 He wrote in his letter that he "lamented" his failure to act on the questionable ballot, and that he shared his misgivings with his wife and parents. 
 
 Finally, about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Yancey's team talked with Mallory and heard his concerns. They urged him to write out his thoughts and sign them so they could take them to court in the morning, when the judges would convene to certify the results. 
 
 Once the judges read the letter and heard arguments from the lawyers, they spent two hours studying the ballot in question before ruling. 
 
 GOP leaders in the House of Delegates, who on Tuesday had conceded the recount and pledged to share power with Democrats in what they believed would be a chamber split 50 to 50, issued a new statement after Wednesday's turn of events. 
 
 "While it appeared yesterday that Shelly Simonds was elected, it's obvious now that the result will remain unclear for a while longer," said a statement from House GOP leaders Kirk Cox, Tim Hugo and Nick Rush. 
 
 Simonds, who appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Wednesday morning as the surprise victor of a tense recount that reset state politics, could not be reached for comment. 
 
 It is not clear whether a final decision in the Simonds-Yancey matchup will settle control of the House of Delegates. 
 
 Even as the court was considering whether to certify Tuesday's recount in the 94th House District, two other recounts are taking place this week — at least one of which may further reshuffle politics in Richmond. 
 
 Election officials on Wednesday evening were finishing a recount in the 68th House District in Richmond, where Republican Del. G. Manoli Loupassi trailed Democratic challenger Dawn Adams by 336 votes, but the outcome appeared unlikely to change. 
 
 And a recount is set for Thursday in Fredericksburg's District 28, where the Republican leads by 82 votes. Democrats have also challenged that race in federal court, where they are seeking a new election because more than 100 voters were mistakenly given ballots for the wrong legislative district. 
 
 House Democrats were meeting in Richmond on Wednesday night to elect their own leadership for the coming General Assembly session, which starts Jan. 10. They were set to vote on their designee for speaker but held off in light of the uncertainty in the Simonds-Yancey race and in District 28. Otherwise they reelected their current caucus leadership. 
 
 House Minority Leader David J. Toscano (Charlottesville) is vying with his party's longest-serving member, Del. Kenneth R. Plum (Fairfax), for the speaker position. 
 
 After the court's ruling threw the balance of power back toward Republicans, Plum said he thinks Democrats need to be realistic about what's ahead. 
 
 "Irrespective of these last-minute backs and forths, it's clear that the people are divided in their choice," he said. "And I think what's incumbent upon us is that we do a power-sharing arrangement [with Republicans] where we can get some work done." ||||| NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The Latest on the tied House race in Virginia (all times local): 
 
 7 p.m. 
 
 Election officials say they've postponed their plan to break a tie in a Virginia House race that could decide party control of the chamber. 
 
 Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes confirmed the postponement Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press. Election officials had planned to draw names from a bowl Wednesday. 
 
 The delay follows an announcement that the Democratic candidate will challenge the race's vote count in court. Shelly Simonds and her lawyers said the court failed to follow election law last week by allowing a ballot to be counted after a recount had concluded. 
 
 The race between Simonds and Republican Del. David Yancey is for the 94th District in Newport News. If Simonds were declared the winner, it would split party control of Virginia's House 50-50. 
 
 ____ 
 
 3:55 p.m. 
 
 The Democrat in a tied race for a Virginia House seat that could affect which party controls the chamber says she'll ask a court to declare the tie invalid. 
 
 Shelly Simonds' lawyers said Tuesday that they'll ask the court to reconsider its ruling after last week's recount. 
 
 If Simonds were declared the winner in the 94th District in Newport News, it would split control of the legislature 50-50. Currently it's 51-49 in favor of Republicans. 
 
 Attorney Ezra Reese said the court violated election law by counting a ballot for Republican Del. David Yancey a day after the recount. 
 
 Election officials plan to draw names from a bowl Wednesday to settle the outcome. Simonds said she'll ask them to delay the drawing. Simonds and Yancey are tied at 11,608 votes each.
– Well, that didn't last long. Three judges and a sloppily filled-in ballot have erased Shelly Simonds' dramatic one-vote Virginia House win that made headlines Tuesday, the New York Times reports. Republican incumbent David Yancey held a 10-vote lead after Election Day for Virginia's 94th House District. But a recount Tuesday gave challenger Simonds a one-vote win and Democrats a 50-50 tie in the Virginia House. The recount ended 17 years of Republican control in the Virginia House, the Washington Post notes. But on Wednesday, Republicans took the recount result to court over a ballot that had been discarded by election officials during the recount, the Virginian-Pilot reports. The problem: Bubbles for both Yancey and Simonds had been filled in. Judges on Wednesday ruled the ballot should be counted as a vote for Yancey. Simonds' bubble had a strike through it, and all other votes on the ballot were for Republicans. Yancey and Simonds are now tied at 11,608 votes each, and Republicans hold a 50-49 majority in the Virginia House. The next representative of the 94th House District will now be chosen "by lot," as per state law. The chairman of Virginia's board of elections says this will most likely involve picking a name out of a bowl. Whoever loses the drawing can still petition for a second recount. "I'm really grateful that every vote has been counted," Yancey says. But Democrats are upset the ballot wasn't challenged until after Republicans had approved the recount results and congratulated Simonds on her victory.