History Main / DecidedByOneVote

* This is how most elections in ''[[Machinima/YogscastMinecraftSeries Cornerstone]]'' ended in the first few weeks, with various members of the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}} urging whoever was left to vote for them as the time started running out (read:everyone else had voted to a stalemate).

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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.

* In ''{{Manga/Bakuman}}'', the decision on whether to serialize the main characters' "Perfect Crime Party" comes down to this, with two added conditions- 1)A "Yes" vote also requires that the voter think the series can compete with [[TheRival Eiji Nizuma]]'s "Crow", and 2)If the main characters don't make it, they can't work for Jump again. The vote is initially 4-3 against serialized, with the editor-in.chief casting the final "No" vote, but three of the "no" voters change their votes to "Yes", one of whom does it because he doesn't think it makes sense to end their career by such a slim margin.

* In ''{{Manga/Bakuman}}'', the decision on whether to serialize the main characters' "Perfect Crime Party" comes down to this, with two added conditions- 1)A "Yes" vote also requires that the voter think the series can compete with [[TheRival Eiji Nizuma]]'s "Crow", and 2)If the main characters don't make it, they can't work for Jump again. The vote is initially 4-3 against serialized, with the editor in chief casting the final "No" vote, but three of the "no" voters change their votes to "Yes", one of whom does it because he doesn't think it makes sense to end their career by such a slim margin.

* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' managed to combine various types into one election. Boss Hogg is up for reelection and the Dukes decide to run a friend of theirs against him. After all the votes are counted, the results are a tie. They notice that the county clerk hasn't voted yet because he's getting married. The Dukes retrieve him and get him to place his vote (with the wedding taking place in the back of their truck). Then The votes for the Dukes' friend instead of Boss Hogg. While Boss Hogg is complaining about his loss, it's time the reveal that Roscoe forgot to vote.

* Creator/ChrisRock movie ''Film/HeadOfState''. 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.

* In ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', the Sensible party wins Harpenden by one vote, the Silly vote being split because of two votes going to the Very Silly party instead.

* One episode of ''Series/NightCourt'' has the cast trapped in the morgue when the courthouse catches fire on Election Day. Dan is running for a seat in the election. After the group is freed, Dan discovers he lost by one vote. The cast was unable to vote due to being trapped in the morgue, except for Bull who voted against Dan for all of the insults he had to put up with. After all is said and done, a recount discovers that there was one vote for Dan that wasn't counted and the election is now a tie.
* Cruelly, but justifiably mocked by a Top 10 countdown featured on one 80's episode of ''Late Night with David Letterman''; the list being Top Ten Reason Why You Should Vote This Year.
-->'''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]]!!'''
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' managed to combine various types into one election. Boss Hogg is up for reelection and the Dukes decide to run a friend of theirs against him. After all the votes are counted, the results are a tie. They notice that the county clerk hasn't voted yet because he's getting married. The Dukes retrieve him and get him to place his vote (with the wedding taking place in the back of their truck). Then The votes for the Dukes' friend instead of Boss Hogg. While Boss Hogg is complaining about his loss, it's time the reveal that Roscoe forgot to vote.

* In the television series version of J.K. Rowling's ''Series/TheCasualVacancy'', the contentious Parish Pagford Council election that is the main over-arching subject of the series is won by Miles Mollison by just one vote. Notably, the election inspired such disgust that 35 voters simply submitted vandalized ballots as a form of protest.
* On ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', Lillian's election to the city council was literally decided by one vote, because Kimmy was the only registered voter in the district.
* On the ''Series/LALaw'' episode "Blood, Sweat and Fears," Leland announces he's stepping down as senior partner of the firm, and an election will be held by the seven partners to choose a new one. Douglas, Stuart and Rosalind Shays declare their candidacy. Rosalind wins by one vote.[[note]]And it turns out that Douglas cast the deciding vote for Rosalind, because he was insecure about winning, and, he says, "the firm would be better served by Rosalind than by Stuart." Stuart and Ann voted for Stuart, Rosalind and Michael voted for Rosalind, and Leland and Arnie voted for Douglas. If Douglas had voted for himself, he'd have won.[[/note]]

* One of the shorts of an early episode of ''WesternAnimation/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 [[ExactWords referring to]] [[LiteralMetaphor 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.
* PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'', where Scott and Leonard are running against each other for class president. On election day they get the same number of votes and their teacher isn't sure how to break the tie... [[spoiler:so she awards the presidency to [[TakeAThirdOption the third place nominee Ian]], who only received one vote (his own).]]

--> Hilda: "Eh, who cares. It's not like two votes are going to matter."
--> TV Announcer: "And in a stunning landslide, the Not Tell voters won by a single vote!"
--> Hilda: "Okay, one vote wasn't going to matter."

---> '''Bender:''' It's not my fault, I'm a non-voting felon!
---> '''Fry:''' And it's not my fault, because I forgot to vote!
---> '''Leela:''' Oh, ''crud''! I ''knew'' there was something I forgot to do today!

* A non-political example in pro baseball: After a pitcher-dominated 1960's that saw scoring down and fan interest begin to wane, the American League voted to adopt the designated hitter rule that would allow fielders to bat in place of the pitcher (who usually sucks at the plate), leading to an increase in offense in the AL and fan attendance perking up again in the 1970's. This led to the National League considering whether to adopt the rule as well. A vote took place in 1980, where among the twelve NL teams there needed to be more "Yes" than "No" votes for it to pass. Originally, Philadelphia Phillies vice president Bill Giles intended to vote "yes", but he wasn't sure if his boss owner Ruly Carpenter wanted to still support it once the teams were informed that the rule wouldn't go into effect until 1982, and he couldn't get in contact with Carpenter because he was on a fishing trip. Without confirmation from his boss, Giles abstained from the vote instead; this in turn caused Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Harding Peterson to also abstain as he had been instructed to follow the Phillies' lead. The measure failed, with four votes in favor, five against, and three abstentions. Years later it was revealed that Carpenter ''did'' want to have the DH, but for want of a telephone line rather than a fishing line the NL still has pitchers batting to this day.

** Included in the 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.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/Persona4''. You can vote for what to do for the School Festival, but [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome it's a fair ballot,]] so no matter what, [[ButThouMust you have to do a Group Date café]].

* The 2022 Spanish Labour Law was passed by a single vote, 175 to 174. The deciding vote was unwillingly cast by a member of the main opposition party, who had asked to vote from home due to an illness and got mixed up with the instructions handed to him by the whips. So he voted for the Government's bill and against his own party's alternative, which also failed by a single vote.

[[quoteright:341:[[Series/SquidGame https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squidgame_decidedvote2.jpg]]]]

* In the ''ComicBook/{{JLA}}'' storyline "Tower of Babel", the team decides to vote on if they should expel Franchise/{{Batman}} from the team due to his contingency plans being used by the storyline's BigBad Ra's al Ghul. It's tied 3-3 (ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, Franchise/WonderWoman and ComicBook/PlasticMan for and ComicBook/TheFlash, ComicBook/GreenLantern and ComicBook/MartianManhunter against} with Franchise/{{Superman}} as the tie-breaker. [[spoiler:Superman doesn't get to vote -- Batman knew Superman would vote for him to stay, so he decided to take things into his own hands and leaves the team.]]

2. The vote is discovered to be tied, or very close, but there's still a small amount of time left to vote. A race against the clock ensues.

[[folder:Multiple votes]]

'''Homer:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Oh, it wouldn't have made a difference.]]

* ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'': At the end of the story ''¡Elecciones!'', [[RippedFromTheHeadlines parodying the general election held in Spain in December 2015]], it's revealed that there were so many parties in the running that each of them got one single vote... except for one candidate who managed to gather two votes and is subsequently named president.

* After the first game in ''Series/SquidGame'' leaves 255 of the 456 participants dead, the remaining players invoked a clause in the game rules stating that they can end the games and leave if the majority vote chooses to. The game masters oblige and a vote is held. The last player to vote, Player 001, votes not to continue the game, breaking a 100-100 tie.

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

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!!Examples

[[folder:Forgot to vote]]

[[folder:Race to vote]]

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[[folder:Last minute vote]]

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* In ''Comicbook/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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[[folder:Type 1]]

[[folder:Type 2]]

[[folder:Type 3]]

[[folder:Type 4]]

* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' managed to combine types 1, 2, and 3 into one election. Boss Hogg is up for reelection and the Dukes decide to run a friend of theirs against him. After all the votes are counted, Type 2 comes up and the results are a tie. They notice that the county clerk hasn't voted yet because he's getting married. The Dukes retrieve him and get him to place his vote (with the wedding taking place in the back of their truck). Then Type 3 comes up when he votes for the Dukes' friend instead of Boss Hogg. While Boss Hogg is complaining about his loss, it's time for Type 1 and the reveal that Roscoe forgot to vote.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' plays this multiple times over with the Godsmoot. Each of the three pantheons gets one vote on [[spoiler:whether or not to destroy the world]]. The Southern Pantheon votes no and the Western Pantheon votes yes; the results of the polling of the individual gods in these pantheons is not shown. This leaves it to the Northern Pantheon, whose clerics are all in attendance. While the first votes lean heavily towards [[spoiler:not destroying the world]], a late run brings it to an 8-8 tie with, it is believed, only one vote left. Except they didn't count on a cleric of Hel being present, and Hel's vote reties the vote at 9-9 (a reverse Type 1, as the 9-8 vote would've favored the heroes), which means that the demigods must break the tie. 7 demigods have representatives present, and Hel believes she has the requisite 4 votes to [[spoiler:destroy the world]], but Hermod, demigod of messengers, thought that he would only be voting as such as a protest vote and refuses to be the vote to seal the deal, leaving ''that'' vote tied at 3-3 pending the vote of Dvalin, first king of the dwarves, who never votes without consulting the Dwarven Council of Elders. So we're currently waiting for the vote that will decide the vote that will decide the vote [[RuleOfThree that will decide the vote]]. (4-3, 10-9, 2-1)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Episode "In Tents Debat", when the Loud siblings are voting where to spend their next family vacation, the two possible choices each get 5 votes from the girls, leaving it up to Lincoln to determine which one it’s going to be. After spending the episode enjoying/enduring his sisters trying to bribe or scare him into voting for their favorite location, he [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]] and votes for the family’s usual camping place instead.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' features a variation on this, bordering on subversion. The election for class president is a three-way 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 each trying to pressure him into voting for them through acts of [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bribery, blackmail, and operating a zeppelin on school property without a permit.]] As a result, they all get disqualified, and the only other candidate Bolbi, an [[FunnyForeigner eccentric foreign boy]] who just started attending the school, ends up winning by default. Also a DarkHorseVictory.

** Subverted in the episode "Douche & Turd" where every other character [[SeriousBusiness makes an enormous deal]] out of Stan's refusal to vote for a new school mascot (he didn't like either choice). When he finally caves and casts his all-important ballot, it turns out that not only was the victory a landslide but the school gets to keep their old mascot anyway, making his vote doubly pointless.