History Main / DecidedByOneVote

* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Head In The Polls." Leela tries to convince Fry of the importance of voting. Richard Nixon's head in a jar decides to run for president, and acquires Bender's body, which Bender sold to a pawn shop when the price of titanium skyrocketed. After spending the whole episode trying to get Bender's body back from Nixon, the main characters forget to vote. Nixon wins the election by one vote. From the same episode it is said the first robot president won by one vote as well, and pledged not to go on a killing spree. As he was a politician you can imagine what that promise was worth. Given Futurama verse has elected Nixon, a 20ft alien who used human skulls as cushions and the above killer robot as presidents, some reform of the candidate selection process may be needed.

-->'''Van Driesen''': No Butthead, you only ''received'' one vote.

* The 1876 United States presidential election between Republican [[UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes Rutherford B. Hayes]] and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. While Tilden recieved a majority of the popular vote, Hayes beat him in the Electoral College 185 to 184, including 20 disputed votes. The disputed votes were the result of double returns for votes in three states and an illegal elector in a fourth. These votes were given to Hayes (TWO DAYS BEFORE HIS INNAUGURATION!) on the condition that federal troops be withdrawn from the South, ending the Reconstruction Era.

--->'''Dave Letterman''': Number 2 - Even though it hasn't happened in the last 213 years, and probably ''won't'' happen in the next 213 years, '''[[SarcasmMode YOUR ONE VOTE COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!]]'''

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* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' featured the Mask running against Mayor Tilton. Stanley only kept Mask in the race because Pretorius, who was posing as Tilton, planned to allow toxic waste to be dumped in Edge City. ([[FridgeBrilliance It's never been revealed why Pretorius bothered with a re-election campaign rather than simply using Tilton's current authority]]) After all votes were counted, the Mask was ahead by one vote and pretorius decided to dump the toxic waste anyway but Mask stopped him. The real Mayor Tilton has been rescued and, when a reporter tried to interview him about losing, he pointed out he didn't vote and there's still time. Mayor Tilton then voted for himself, bringing the election to a tie. Stanley then showed up and pointed out that he was so busy being the Mask... 's campaign manager he still hasn't voted. When Mayor Tilton asks Stanley to vote for him, Stanley asked in return that Mayor Tilton removes the extra parking meters, reduces the fee to renew dog licenses and ends the garbagemen's strike. Tilton accepted.

* In the third ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' film, it is said that there has been no Pirate King for ages, because at any attempt to elect one, everyone votes for themselves. This is apparently going to be the case this time as well, until Jack Sparrow unexpectedly votes for Elizabeth. It's actually his BatmanGambit because he knew they'd do this. As soon as he does this, all the other Pirate Lords start screaming that he should vote for him/her instead.

* The 2002 election between [[ComicStrip/SafeHavens Jeanine Argus]] and [[ComicStrip/OnTheFastrack Rose Trellis]] for the state senate was decided by one vote, with Jeanine winning. By law, Rose could call for a recount, but because Jeanine had saved her from being killed by a falling light, she declined. [[spoiler: It's strongly suggested that it was Rose's executive assistant Wendy that turned the tide, turning her back on her boss to vote for Jeanine.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', the episode begins with Fred tied for the number of votes against his opponent for the club president and knows that Barney is the only one who didn't vote yet. Fred attempts to persuade Barney to vote for him while hanging out together as pals, except that Barney voted for the ''other guy'' because Fred's last line while hanging out was "may the best man win". They become sworn enemies throughout this episode.

* A ''Dukes of Hazzard'' episode has Boss Hogg running against a female friend of the Dukes' for a local administrative position. The deciding vote turns out to be Sheriff Rosco's, and he winds up voting for the challenger by mistake.

* subverted in ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears and the Female Fullback''; The B-plot is Brother Bear running against Queenie McBear for school president. Queenie is quick to include the upheaval from Bertha Broom trying out for the boys football team in her campaign, turning the election into a boys vs girls affair, but there are an equal amount of boys and girls in the student body. Queenie is confident she'll win and at the end it's revealed why; Too-Tall Grizzly has a crush on her, and she was counting on his vote! However, the votes are still tied because Bertha, who doesn't care about women's lib, voted for Brother. In the end, Brother concedes to Queenie because he has too many responsibilities anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'' episode "The Villain Nobody Took Seriously", Victor Volt wasn't concerned about voting at the upcoming World Leader elections because the title's current holder was running unopposed. A clown won the election by renaming himself after the ballot's instruction of where to put the "X" and getting votes from confused voters. The more [[FailOSuckyname Changed Daily]], who was one of the confused voters, hates it, he recognizes the clown won the election fair and square.

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Head In The Polls." Leela tries to convince Fry of the importance of voting. Richard Nixon's head in a jar decides to run for president, and acquires Bender's body, which Bender sold to a pawn shop when the price of titanium skyrocketed. After spending the whole episode trying to get Bender's body back from Nixon, the main characters forget to vote. Nixon wins the election by one vote. From the same episode it is said the first robot president won by one vote as well, and pledged not to go on a killing spree. As he was a politician you can imagine what that promise was worth. Given Futurama verse has elected Nixon, a 20ft alien who used human skulls as cushions and the above killer robot as presidents, some reform may be needed.

* A ''ComicBook/JosieAndThePussyCats'' story showed DumbBlond Melody and AlphaBitch Alexandra running against each other for class president, but neither one was capable of getting more than exactly half of the school to support them. Alexandra, at the last moment, realized she could swing thing in her favor by telling Melody there was a rule against a candidate voting for themselves. Therefore, while technically Alexandra wins by two votes, Melody's single vote for her opponent prevents the candidates own votes from cancelling each other out.

* Sheriff Coltrane once forgot to vote on ''TheDukesOfHazzard'' because he was too busy assisting Boss Hogg's plans to cheat in the election. Had he voted, it would've come out in Hogg's favor.

* ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Head In The Polls." Leela tries to convince Fry of the importance of voting. Richard Nixon's head in a jar decides to run for president, and acquires Bender's body, which Bender sold to a pawn shop when the price of titanium skyrocketed. After spending the whole episode trying to get Bender's body back from Nixon, the main characters forget to vote. Nixon wins the election by one vote. From the same episode it is said the first robot president won by one vote as well, and pledged not to go on a killing spree. As he was a politician you can imagine what that promise was worth. Given Futurama verse has elected Nixon, a 20ft alien who used human skulls as cushions and the above killer robot as presidents, some reform may be needed.

* In an early episode of ''TheSimpsons,'' Bart runs against Martin Prince for class president. After spending the whole episode campaigning, Bart loses the election 2-0, as Martin and his friend were the only ones who voted.
** A later ''Simpsons'' example has an "6 PM under 70 curfew" winning "by a single vote!" Marge says, "Homer, we really should've voted!" Homer moans, "Oh, it wouldn't have made a difference!"
* ''TheFairlyOddparents'' episode "Hail to the Chief" subverts this trope by having the protagonist Timmy Turner winning by one vote. Tired of seeing co-Presidents [[ThoseTwoGuys Tad and Chad]] abusing presidential power, Timmy decided to run for student council president. At the debate, Tad and Chad offered a party with a giant cake and Timmy was sure he'd be the only person to vote for him since even his best friends accepted the bribe. It turned out Timmy was not just the only student to vote for him but the only student to vote at all because all other students became sick from eating to much of the cake and couldn't attend classes the day they're supposed to vote.
* ''BobbysWorld'' had an episode where both Bobby and Uncle Ted ran for different offices.. While the main plot resolves with Bobby losing by a landslide, the episode ends with Uncle Ted losing by one vote because he decided not to vote for himself.
* ''TheSecretShow'' episode "The Villain Nobody Took Seriously", Victor Volt wasn't concerned about voting at the upcoming World Leader elections because the title's current holder was running unopposed. A clown won the election by renaming himself after the ballot's instruction of where to put the "X" and getting votes from confused voters. The more [[FailOSuckyname Changed Daily]], who was one of the confused voters, hates it, he recognizes the clown won the election fair and square.

* In the LiarGame, while playing the "Minority Game", where the voters who voted in the minority win, every round ended in the closest possible margin [[spoiler: (ie 12-10, 6-4, 3-1.)]] Of course, this being the Liar Game, [[spoiler: It's not a coincidence]] and in fact tips off Akiyama that [[spoiler: there exist more teams besides their own.]]

* ''CerebusTheAardvark'' issue 44, "The Deciding Vote".

* Chris Rock movie ''Head Of State''. When the media announces that [[HilariousInHindsight a black man]] [[FunnyAneurysmMoment is on the verge of winning the presidency]], the empty streets of California fill with white people madly racing to the polls. However Rock's character takes the time during election day to fulfill an old promise to use his campaign bus to transport poor people during a transit strike. That unusual move creates so much timely good publicity that he wins the election.

* Subverted on ''ILoveLucy'', when Lucy and Ethel run against each other for president of their women's club. They discover that half the club intends to vote for Lucy and the other half is going to vote for Ethel, and the deciding vote is Ruth Knickerbocker, a new member of the club. Both immediately begin wining and dining her in order to win her vote. In the end, she ends up getting sick from all the food they feed her and can't vote, so Lucy and Ethel are declared co-presidents.
* An episode of ''The Dukes Of Hazzard'' dealt with a woman running against Boss Hogg for county commissioner. The election comes down to one vote, that of the county clerk, who was away from Hazzard for his wedding. Bo and Luke wind up driving him, his bride-to-be AND the minister back to Hazzard on a hay truck, with the wedding ceremony going on in the back.

* The ''SluggyFreelance'' spinoff ''Meanwhile in the Dimension of Pain''. Reakk and Terribus are running against each other for the title of Demon Lord, but the evilly-designed ballots turn out to be butterflies whose wings must be torn off as part of the vote. The butterflies all flee into the one sacred area where demons cannot enter. As time to vote runs out, Reakk reaches into the sacred circle, grabbing a butterfly in exchange for severe burns, only to accidentally tear off the wrong wing and give Terribus the victory.

* In ''TheLittles'' episode "Every Little Vote Counts", the littles were having a mayoral election and it seemed they'd have a new mayor who'd win by a landslide. However, several people who initially didn't feel like voting were eventually persuaded to understand the true value of a vote and, instead of getting a new mayor, the littles re-elected the "previous" one.

* In the third ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' film, it is said that there has been no Pirate King for ages, because at any attempt to elect one, everyone votes for themselves. This is apparently going to be the case this time as well, until Jack Sparrow unexpectedly votes for Elizabeth. It's actually his BatmanGambit because he knew they'd do this.
** As soon as he does this, all the other Pirate Lords start screaming that he should vote for him/her instead.
* The film ''Film/{{Election}}'' centers around a class presidency election between [[BitchInSheepsClothing ruthless overachiever]] Tracy Flick and [[LovableJock kind]] [[BrainlessBeauty but not-too-bright jock]] Paul. Tracy wins the election by one vote because Paul decides that it wouldn't be fair for him to vote for himself and votes for Tracy instead.

* Included in the ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'' episode "Colonial Day", when the Vice Presidential race between Gaius Baltar and Tom Zarek is a race against the clock. One more vote and Zarek (an admitted terrorist with a lot of public support) gets it. A vote for Baltar (who is really MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds, but no one but him knows it) and it's a tie. The President (who's got a hate-on for Zarek) gets to make the call. Baltar gets the vote, Laura Roslin backs "the devil she knows", and everything starts to go to hell in a handbasket.

* ''NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': The last vote goes to Coconut Head, who votes for... the weasel. A {{Zmelik}}, but subverted because the vice president (the only one who ran for that position) decides to enact the ideas in Ned's platform on behalf of President Weasel.
* In the first episode of BBC's ''{{Middlemarch}}'' (and [[OlderThanRadio the 1871 novel]] on which it is based), the newcomer who had no interest in voting (as he knew neither of the canidates) was forced to vote when it comes down to a tie.
* A ''DukesOfHazzard'' episode has Boss Hogg running against a female friend of the Dukes' for a local administrative position. The deciding vote turns out to be Sheriff Rosco's, and he winds up voting for the challenger by mistake.

* The plot of the musical ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' hinges on obtaining unanimous ratification for the Declaration of Independence by all 13 colonies (less New York, which abstains – [[RunningGag courteously]] – in the absence of instructions from their legislature). ''Two'' of the delegations are split and require extraordinary means to break ties (though historically all the delegations were larger than depicted). First, Delaware's split is broken by a dramatic night ride back to Philadelphia by Caesar Rodney; Pennsylvania is swung when pro-independence Ben Franklin asks to poll individual delegates, at which point James Wilson changes sides. In the musical, he claims to desire relative anonymity rather than be remembered as the man who prevented American Independence; historically, Wilson did break the tie, but at the time of writing, nobody knew why (as the creators admit). [[HistoryMarchesOn More recent research]] shows that he only withheld his "yes" vote because he was making sure his constituents were in favor of it.

* The result of the vote for the mayor of Loire in ''{{Terranigma}}'' is left up to the protagonist's vote: by voting for the drunkard and conservative Louis, the town won't progress any further, but by voting for the well-dressed and intelligent Jean, he'll ask Louis to be his assistant, allowing the town to develop and prosper further.

* In the ''{{Peanuts}}'' TV special "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown" the election was between Linus and another kid. The election was tied, the other kid was last to vote, but he voted for Linus because he thought Linus would make a better president.
* An episode of ''JimmyNeutron'' features a variation on this, bordering on subversion. The election for class president is a tie, with the last vote belonging to the cowardly and indecisive Carl--however, rather than voting unexpectedly, he panics and breaks down, revealing that all three of the leading candidates (Sheen, Libby, and Jimmy) were trying to pressure him into voting. They all get disqualified, and Bolbi, an [[FunnyForeigner eccentric foreign boy]] who just started attending the school, wins by default. Also a DarkHorseVictory.

** An episode that aired in November, 2000 features an election for kindergarten class president that results in a tie because [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a little girl named Flora hadn't voted yet]].

* In the ''StrawberryShortcake Berryfest Princess Movie'', the Berryfest Princess is decided by an election between Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Blossom. When the votes are tallied, the result is a tie, which Mr. Longface Caterpillar, presiding over the events, declares impossible. Orange Blossom realizes that in all the excitement she forgot to vote, and goes to do so. She votes for Strawberry, much to Ms. Shortcake's surprise (implying, perhaps, that Strawberry voted for herself).
* A 1983 ''AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' episode had a situation where Alvin and Brittany are running against each other for class president. The tie-breaking vote belongs to Brittany's sister Jeanette, leading to mass lobbying from both candidates. Jeanette votes for [[spoiler:Alvin]]. Brittany doesn't take that well.
* This was actually done in an early ''{{Popeye}}'' cartoon. Popeye and Bluto are running for president and the two are tied. The only person who hasn't voted? Olive Oyl. The episode devolves into the usual brawlfest for Olive's attention and, as usual Popeye wins in the end.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', the episode begins with Fred tied the number of votes against his opponent for the club president and knows that Barney is the only one who didn't vote yet. Fred attempts to persuade Barney to vote for him while hanging out together as pals, except that Barney voted for the ''other guy'' because Fred's last line while hanging out was "may the best man win". They become sworn enemies throughout this episode.

* While the election is fixed in the movie, in the novel ''{{Carrie}}'', this is actually how Carrie won prom queen. The first time the ballots went around, Tommy insisted on voting for themselves. The result was a tie between Frank and Jessica, and Tommy and Carrie. A second set of ballots was passed around, and suddenly experiencing a case of women's intuition, Carrie begs Tommy not to vote for themselves. He does anyway. Guess how many votes they won by.

* The premise of ''ShatteredUnion'' involves an unpopular president being elected by a ''very'' short margin (DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything). He somehow proceeds to get all the other candidates disqualified in the next election, leaving him the only contender. This causes massive unrest, and he ends up imposing martial law on the West Coast. Domestic terrorism is on the rise, culminating in a nuke being planted in Washington, D.C. The President and most of the government officials are killed. Then states start seceding one-by-one and DividedStatesOfAmerica ensues.

* One of the shorts of an early episode of ''RockyAndBullwinkle'' had the title characters running against each other for the position of President of their fan club. After vigorous campaigning, the day of the election arrived and Bullwinkle was first to the polls. After voting, he was called by Boris, who informed him that he had won "by a landslide". This being the mountainous region of Frostbite Falls, he was of course referring to an actual landslide, which trapped Bullwinkle in the building where the vote was taking place and prevented anyone else from getting to it. Bullwinkle responded by saying that Rocky was the winner, since that was who he actually voted for.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'':

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* The plot of the musical ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' hinges on obtaining unanimous ratification for the Declaration of Independence by all 13 colonies (less New York, which abstains – [[RunningGag courteously]] – in the absence of instructions from their legislature). ''Two'' of the delegations are split and require extraordinary means to break ties (though historically all the delegations were larger than depicted). First, Delaware's split is broken by a dramatic night ride back to Philadelphia by Caesar Rodney; Pennsylvania is swung when pro-independence Ben Franklin asks to poll individual delegates, at which point James Wilson changes sides. In the musical, he claims to desire relative anonymity rather than be remembered as the man who prevented American Independence; historically, Wilson did break the tie, but (as the creators admit in the DVD commentary track) no one really knows why.

* In ''TheSpirit'', two mayoral candidates (both coerced into running) tie... and the 'tiebreaker' votes for ''himself'', leaving the tie unresolved. The tied candidates seize the chance to transfer their votes to the last voter, leading to his becoming elected unanimously.

* IIRC, ''BobbysWorld'' had this. While the main plot involves Bobby electing for class president (which he lost by a landslide), the episode ends with Uncle Ted losing by one vote because he decided not to vote for himself.

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* In TheSpirit, two mayoral candidates (both coerced into running) tie... and the 'tiebreaker' votes for ''himself'', leaving the tie unresolved. The tied candidates seize the chance to transfer their votes to the last voter, leading to his becoming elected unanimously.

* The result of the vote for the mayor of Loire in {{Terranigma}} is left up to the protagonist's vote: by voting for the drunkard and conservative Louis, the town won't progress any further, but by voting for the well-dressed and intelligent Jean, he'll ask Louis to be his assistant, allowing the town to develop and prosper further.

* A ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode that aired in November, 2000 features an election for kindergarten class president that results in a tie because [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a little girl named Flora hadn't voted yet]].

* A 1983 AlvinAndTheChipmunks episode had a situation where Alvin and Brittany are running against each other for class president. The tie-breaking vote belongs to Brittany's sister Jeanette, leading to mass lobbying from both candidates. Jeanette votes for [[spoiler:Alvin]]. Brittany doesn't take that well.

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* ''CerebusTheAardvark'' issue 44, "The Deciding Vote".

* In the first episode of BBC's ''{{Middlemarch}}'' (and the novel on which it is based), the newcomer who had no interest in voting (as he knew neither of the canidates) was forced to vote when it comes down to a tie. As the novel was written in 1871, this is OlderThanRadio.

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* The ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Election Night video had the Red and Blue teams voting to see which one was the best and, as usual, each team was voting for themselves until they finally find s set-up with an odd number of members, only for one person to not vote. It turns out to be the Blood Gulch crew and Grif was the one who didn't vote, having forgotten to register beforehand, leaving the issue unresolved until the next election.

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* The result of the vote for the mayor of Loire in {{Terranigma}} is left up to the protagonist's vote: by voting for the drunkard and conservative Louis, the town won't progress any further, but by voting for the well-dressed and intelligent Jean, he'll ask Louis to be his assistant, allowing the town to develop and prosper further.

* In the short story "Franchise" by Creator/IsaacAsimov, the science of voter prediction becomes so refined that the supercomputer is able to select ''one single'' individual that is representative of the entire country. He doesn't get to 'vote' so much as hes subjected to a lengthy questioning on assorted electoral and other issues (one voter was, among other things, grilled at length about his feeling on the current price of eggs), which together with existing data on demographics and political opinion is used to calculate what everyone ''would'' have voted.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy'' ends with protagonist Thorby battling the EvilChancellor for control of his late parents' MegaCorp in a shareholders' election. [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Evil Chancellor's Beautiful Stepdaughter]] Leda reveals she has enough stock to swing the election in Thorby's favor.

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* In TheSpirit, two mayoral candidates (both coerced into running) tie... and the 'tiebreaker' votes for ''himself'', leaving the tie unresolved. The tied candidates seize the chance to transfer their votes to the last voter, leading to his becoming elected unanimously.

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* ''Welcome to Mooseport'' deals with two mayoral candidates who each [[spoiler:eventually declare that they're going to vote for the other fellow as the one better qualified to run the town. One candidate, an experienced politician, secretly votes for himself anyways and wins by one vote, but feels so guilty he admits his subterfuge and tries to step down in favor of the other candidate. The other, a plumber who only sort of wants the position, falsely claims that he voted for himself too, and refuses the offer.]]
* In ''Film/{{Election}}'', Tracy wins the election for StudentCouncilPresident by a single vote. Mr. [=McAllister=], having never liked Tracy (he convinced Paul to run against her just to spite her), [[spoiler:[[VoteEarlyVoteOften rigs the election]] by throwing away two votes for her while counting the ballots, thus allowing Paul to win by one vote]].

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