Seth A. Richardson

Reno Gazette-Journal

If the Iowa Democratic caucuses showed the country one thing, it’s that sometimes it does come down to a coin flip.

Initial reports showed former secretary of State Hillary Clinton won six precincts over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that needed some form of tiebreaker, resulting in a coin flip to determine who was awarded the contested delegate. Sam Lau, a spokesman for the Iowa Democratic Party, said seven coin flips were reported through the party's reporting app, with Sanders winning six and Clinton winning one, but others may have been unreported through the party's phone system.

The Des Moines Register identified six through social media and another in an interview with a caucus participant, with Clinton winning six.

The tiebreakers did not affect Clinton’s eventual victory even with the slim margin, but the seemingly arbitrary rules made national news.

However, the Nevada Democratic caucus has a similar system, only with a process more appropriate to a state with a heavy casino industry: a card draw.

The draw only happens when a delegate needs to be awarded for one candidate or the other. A memo from the state party lays out the rules.

The party provides an unopened deck of playing cards. The deck should be shuffled seven times. A representative from each campaign picks a single card. The high card wins. In cases of cards of the same rank, the card suit controls the outcome with spades being the highest followed by hearts, diamonds and clubs.

It’s happened before in Nevada. During the 2008 caucus, then-Illinois senator Barack Obama and then-New York senator Clinton tied at precincts in Genoa and Zephyr Cove. Obama won both draws.

The rule has precedent in state law and has been used before to determine primary races, including a 2011 city council race.