A random drawing Monday night will determine the new Spring Lake Park mayor

Incumbent Robert Nelson and challenger Halyn Roth tied in last Tuesday's election.

City Administrator Daniel Buchholtz says a canvassing board will first look to see if there are any voting errors that could sway votes toward either candidate.

"A voter sometimes will make a mistake on their ballot, cross out one name and fill in the oval for another, where the machine will count that as an overvote," explains Buchholtz. "But when you physically look at the ballot, you're able to determine what the voter's intent was, and so we would count that toward the candidate that the voter wanted to choose."

Buchholtz says the candidate that comes up short has seven days to request a formal recount.

"And at that point then we will have a recount over at Anoka County at the courthouse and see if the results change after physically examining all the ballots," he adds. "And at that point the canvassing board, which is the city council, will meet again and we'll certify the final winner."

The Spring Lake Park city council meets at 5:30 p.m. A potential recount is scheduled for November 17 at the Anoka County Courthouse.