CHAPTER 21

On the walk home from school, Sofia kicked a small stick off the sidewalk. Pup fetched it and brought it back to her. Sofia scowled and threw the stick. Pup brought it back. This continued all the way home.

“Iggy didn’t vote, Abuelo!” said Sofia. “Everybody should vote! It’s important.”

“It is,” said Abuelo, “but a person doesn’t have to vote if they don’t want to. That’s a right, too. Iggy thought he was doing a good thing letting others decide.”

“Not voting makes as big a difference as voting,” said Sofia. “Iggy thought he would let somebody else take care of it, but because he did that, we have a tie.”

“People don’t think one vote makes a difference,” said Abuelo, “but it does. Every single one. If a person doesn’t vote, they give up their power to change things. Worse than that, they give that power to somebody else, who might not use it the way they want.”

“It’s too late now,” said Sofia.

Abuelo gave her a hug.

After dinner, they went to the library to learn how election ties could be broken.

“Hold the door, Sofia!” called a familiar voice.

Sofia looked behind her. Bee was carrying a black duck. Beau followed her with a large lizard on a leash. Both animals wore Reading Buddy vests.

“Meet our newest Reading Buddies!” said Bee. “Moby Duck.”

QUACK!

“And the Lizard of Oz,” said Beau. “We’re expanding our program. Wait until you meet Hamlet!”

“He’s a pig,” said Bea. “But he loves books!”

“Who doesn’t?” said Mr. Page. “How can I help you? You know there’s always help at the library!”

Sofia told him about the election, and Mr. Page led her to a section of the library filled with books about elections.

Sofia learned that each election’s rules depend on where the election is held. Some election ties lead to a whole new election. Sometimes, one official picks the winner. Sometimes they decide with a coin toss. One time, a whole state senate was tied, and one seat would decide which party had the power to make laws. The senate seat election was tied, too! The governor flipped a coin to decide who would win the seat and which party would control the state.

“I bet a lot of people in that state wish they had voted,” said Mr. Page.

Before Sofia could respond, Moby Duck waddled by.

“That reminds me,” said Mr. Page, pulling a tiny book from his pocket. “What time do ducks wake up?”

“I don’t know,” said Sofia.

“At the quack of dawn!” said Mr. Page with a belly laugh. “Oh golly. That’s a good one.”

He walked away chuckling.

Sofia smiled weakly. She wasn’t in the mood for jokes. Even good ones. She stared at her notes and sighed. Her research had turned up a lot of information about tied elections. In the end, she had four ideas, but she didn’t know which the class would choose, and she wasn’t sure she liked any of them. As election commissioner, though, it was her job to help the class figure it out. She and Abuelo left the library and headed home.