The Guntersville mayoral race officially resulted in a very rare tie, with a runoff election now on the books.

The announcement came down from officials on Friday after a recount by election officials.

Mayor Leigh Dollar was holding a one vote lead (1,062-1,061) over Jeff McLaughlin in unofficial returns from the Lake City, but was ruled a tie after provisional ballots were counted Friday.

“Let’s pull everybody back together. Let’s work together in the city,” McLaughlin said earlier this week in response to the close race. “I don’t want this to lead to any kind of division or problem in the city. So, the emphasis by the mayor, right off the bat, I think needs to be, ‘Let’s all work together.’”

Of the 10 provisional ballots, which were all reviewed by the Board of Registrar’s office, three were not counted, three were for Dollar, and four were for McLaughlin.

“I never expected it to be that close by one vote,” Dollar said. “Either way, you never expect that one vote. But every vote counts. It’s so important to go exercise your right to vote, because so many times people say, ‘My vote doesn’t matter.’ Yes, it does. So, please, give it.”

A runoff election will be scheduled for Sept. 23.

“Let’s keep the momentum going, Guntersville,” McLaughlin said after the recount. “Make plans to vote (again!) on September 23rd!”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee