TYSONS CORNER, Va. – Precinct captains in Nevada have been provided with a unique piece of equipment to break ties in Saturday’s caucuses – a deck of cards.

According to the Nevada Democratic Party, if two caucus groups are tied, each group will “draw a single card from a deck of cards to break the tie.”

The high card decides the winner, with aces high. If the same ranked card is drawn, then the suit determines the higher card, going from the highest to lowest suit: spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs.

Before card are drawn, Every deck must be shuffled at least seven times by a precinct chair or site captain.

Caucus live updates: Elizabeth Warren campaign says it doubled fundraising goal ahead of Nevada caucuses

All jokers or direction cards must be removed from the deck before it can be used.

After the card draws are completed, the result, as well as the cards drawn, are to be “recorded and reported to the Nevada State Democratic Party.”

The Nevada caucuses have been using decks of cards to break ties since 2008, the party says.

The Iowa caucuses had a similarly scientific way of breaking ties – a coin toss, though few races were actually decided by the toss.  

Thirty-six delegates will be allocated by today’s caucuses, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has led in polling averages of the state. 

Want to talk more about politics?: Join our Facebook group: ‘Across the Aisle, Across the Nation.’

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/22/nevada-caucuses-cards-drawn-deck-break-ties/4842896002/