This is a list of close election results on the national level and within administrative divisions. It lists results that have been decided by a margin of less than 1 vote in 1,000 (a margin of less than 0.1 percentage points): single-winner elections where the winning candidate was less than 0.1% ahead of the second-placed candidate, as well as party-list elections where a party was less than 0.1% short of the electoral threshold or two lists that obtained seats are less than 0.1% apart. This list is limited to elections in which at least 1,000 votes were cast.
To provide context, the section on "Distribution of elections" shows the distribution of winning margins in different areas. Depending on the area, from 1 in 40 to 1 in 500 election contests is decided by less than 1 vote in 1,000.
According to a 2001 study of state and federal elections in the United States between 1898 and 1992, "one of every 100,000 votes cast in U.S. [House of Representatives] elections, and one of every 15,000 votes cast in state [legislative] elections, "mattered" in the sense that they were cast for a candidate that officially tied or won by one vote."[1]
While not an election, a member of Congress once owed his seat to the drawing of lots. In 1902, after more than 7,000 votes at three conventions, the Democrats were unable to decide among three candidates for nomination to Texas's 12th congressional district. Two candidates put their names in a hat, drew one out and the loser agreed to withdraw and support the winner. Oscar W. Gillespie won the game of lots, the nomination and the following general election, serving in Congress for eight years.[2]
There are a variety of ways in which tied elections are settled. Some are decided by drawing lots or other games of chances. Others lead to a runoff or special election. Still others are decided by some third party such as the legislature or a high-ranking elected official. In one case in Waynetown, Indiana, in 1891, two candidates for town treasurer agreed to settle their 339–339 tie by a foot-race.[3] However, despite some fictionalized accounts, the town board overruled the agreement and determined that then-incumbent William Simms would remain in office for another term, and the proposed race never occurred.[4]
Bob Ives tied with Rosemary Varty, but won the seat with a vote cast by the returning officer, who drew Ives' name from a hat. Adding to the drama, the seat decided control of the Legislative Council. Before Ives could take his seat, the result was subsequently voided by a Court of Disputed Returns on the grounds that 44 votes had been incorrectly excluded from the count, and the court ordered a by-election. Varty then won the by-election.[5]
Marco Romano and Monica Duca Widmer both had 23,979 votes.[7] Initially, a computer program was used to draw lots and Widmer was declared the winner. Following complaints and appeals, the Federal Supreme Court ruled against the Canton's decision to use a computer program for the lottery and ordered new manual lottery. This was conducted on November 25 and Marco Romano emerged as the winner.[8][9] (There were 760,995 votes cast in total for 8 seats. The PPD won two seats. Romano and Widmer, both of the PPD, were tied for the PPD's second seat.)
The initial vote count had Republican William Moss ahead of Democrat Jim Burch by 1 vote for the sixth at-large seat in what was then a six-member district. But then a three-judge circuit court ruled that one of the ballots was "defaced" because the names of two candidates were crossed out with the notation "Do not desire to vote for these two". They did this even though the person who cast this vote (which was known because it was a signed absentee ballot) testified that he intended to vote for Moss. Throwing out the ballot created a tied vote.[11] The names of the two candidates were placed in sealed envelopes, and a blindfolded Elections Board chairman plucked one from a silver loving cup. Moss won.[12] Two years later Moss would lose re-election by 0.03% of the vote.[13]
PQ candidate Noëlla Champagne tied with Liberal Pierre Brouillette. Consequently, a new vote was held 36 days later, which Champagne won by 642 votes.[14]
The initial vote count had incumbent Republican David Yancey ahead by 13 votes. After a canvas that included provisional ballots, Yancey's lead was cut to 10 votes.[15] Following a recount, Yancey trailed Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds by one vote out of 23,215 cast.[16][17] After review by a three-judge panel appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court, a disputed ballot that had been excluded as an overvote was instead counted for Yancey and the race was certified as a tie with the candidates to draw lots to determine a winner.[18][16] The drawing of lots was later postponed after Simonds asked a state court to reconsider the disputed ballot.[19] On January 4, 2018, the names of each candidate were placed inside a film canister, both canisters were placed in a bowl and one canister was drawn at random by State Board of Elections chairman James Alcorn. David Yancey won the draw and the seat, giving Republicans control of the House 51–49.[20] Had Simonds won instead, a 50–50 split would have prompted a power sharing arrangement between the two major parties.[21] In 2019, the two met in a rematch in a redrawn district and Simonds won.
After Peter J. Durant was initially declared the winner by 1 vote, judge Richard T. Tucker ruled that one absentee ballot that was initially discarded was to be counted for Geraldo Alicea creating an exact tie.[22] Six months later, a special election was held where Durant beat Alicea by 56 votes.[23]
Paul Martineau (Progressive Conservative) and Paul-Oliva Goulet (Liberal) each received 6,448 votes in the Québec electoral district of Pontiac–Témiscamingue. Because the vote was tied, the returning officer cast his vote for Martineau.[24]
Four candidates, Democrats John R. McIntyre and Dick Casey; and Republicans Hal Wick and Judy Rost, were contesting two seats. In the initial tally, they had respectively 4195 (24.73%), 3889 (22.93%), 4191 (24.71%), and 4687 (27.63%) votes (16,962 total votes). McIntyre was initially declared to have been elected by a four-vote margin. Wick petitioned for a recount in accordance with SDCL 12-21-12. The recount was conducted in the presence of representatives for both candidates. The results were certified on December 4, 1996, and showed that Wick had been elected by one vote: 4191 (24.71%), 3891 (22.94%), 4192 (24.71%), 4689 (27.64%) (16,963 total votes). The South Dakota Supreme Court examined several ballots and invalidated one vote for Wick. The House then voted, mostly along party lines, 46–20 to seat Wick.[26][27][28] Remarkably, two years later, McIntyre and Wick would again tie (at least on the initial count).
Progressive Conservative Cecil O'Donnell tied with Liberal Clifford Huskilson (3,206–3,206).[29] The returning officer broke the tie by pulling Mr. O'Donnell's name from a box.[30]
Both Russell and Flynn had exactly 4,110 votes in the general election. On Jan 9th, 1979, a special election was held where Flynn beat Russell 2,546–2,038.[40]
Incumbent Frank Wageman found himself in a tied election after a hospitalization left him unable to vote in the election. Two numbered balls were placed in a black leather bottle, and the first one to roll out was the winner. Wageman's ball came out first and challenger Eleanor P. Podles demanded a recount that did not change the outcome.[41] Podles won a rematch in 1982.
Republican candidate Boardman and Democrat "Bo" Smith both received 1,953 votes in Senate District B in Southeastern Alaska around Ketchikan. The Democratic-controlled Alaska Senate resolved the tie in favor of Smith.[42]
Republican Randall Luthi and independent candidate Larry Call each received 1,941 votes in a state House race in northern Lincoln County. On live TV (NBC's Today Show) Secretary of State Kathy Karpan drew a ping pong ball with Luthi's name out of Governor Sullivan's rumpled cowboy hat.[43][44]
Adams Federalist John Sergeant and Jacksonian Henry Horn tied at 1,597, with a 3rd candidate getting 1,391 votes. The governor treated it as a vacancy, but did not call a new election until both Sergeant and Horn relinquished their claims. Sergeant defeated former Representative Joseph Hemphill in the special election a year later and was seated. Residents of the district contested the election, arguing that ballots were found that would've swung the regular election to Horn, but the House dismissed the contest because Horn had voluntarily relinquished his rights.[45]
After a recount, a state Supreme Court challenge and wrangling over five disputed ballots the race was decided by a coin toss, using a special coin with a walrus on one side and the seal of Alaska on the other.[46]Bryce Edgmon, the winner of the coin toss, went on to be Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives.[47]
The November 2, 2004 election resulted in the district 12 race being a 1,559–1,559 vote tie between Democratic candidate Jeanne Windham and Constitution candidate Rick Jore. On December 28, the Montana Supreme Court invalidated a small handful of ballots, which was enough to resolve the tie and give control of the state house to the Democratic Party.[48]
Conservative Nicholas Flood Davin tied independent John K. McInnes. The deciding vote in Davin's favor was cast by the returning officer after the two candidates tied.[50]
On Declaration Day, Mary Ellen McInnis and Alan McIsaac had 1,172–1,174 votes. McInnis filed a petition for a judicial recount. Provincial Court Judge John Douglas discovered that a vote for Ms. McInnis was mistakenly put in the pile for Mr. McIsaac. The result of the recount was thus that they were tied 1,173–1,173. Pursuant to section 102 of the Election Act, the toss of a coin was completed by the Returning Officer. The results of the coin toss were in favour of Alan McIsaac.[51][52][53][54][55]
The November 2022 election to this seat in the city of Rochester ended in a tie of 970–970 between DemocratChuck Grassie and Republican David Walker. Despite rumors that the Republican-controlled state House would vote to seat Walker anyways, a special election was called for February 21.[56] In the end, Chuck Grassie won with over 55% of the vote, a 4% over-performance for Democrats.[57][58]
List of close election results in single-winner, majoritarian and STV races
On election day, Republican Louis Wyman won with a margin of just 355 votes out of more than 220,000. His opponent John A. Durkin then won the recount by 10 votes. After a second recount, Wyman won by just 2 votes. The Democratic-controlled Senate at first agreed to seat Wyman, who served the last 3 days of Norris Cotton's term, but began to deliberate again when the new Senate took office. When the Senate deadlocked for months, Durkin agreed to Wyman's proposal for a new election. The Senate declared the seat vacant and the governor appointed Cotton to hold the seat for six weeks until a special election on September 16. Durkin won the special by 27,000 votes.[60]
Marcus Morton and the incumbent WhigEdward Everett received 51,034–50,725 votes respectively, with the remaining 307 votes went to scattering. The constitution of Massachusetts required a candidate to receive a majority of votes cast in order to win the office outright; otherwise, the legislature would have the authority to choose among the leading candidates. Morton exceeded this threshold by just 1 vote (50% of the 102,066 ballots cast), and had he not, the Whig controlled legislature would have been allowed to select the governor. The legislature could successfully deprive Morton of a majority if it disqualified the return from the town of Westfield. There was, moreover, an argument for doing so: the Westfield return was irregular and improper under the laws of the state because the attestation of its authenticity was not under seal. Instead, the return had been sealed first, and only afterward affixed with an attestation from the relevant local official. Despite pressure from partisans to contest this result, Everett refused. Historian and former Ohio Solicitor General Edward B. Foley notes: "In the annals of American history there is not an equivalent example of a candidate in a major statewide election willing to forgo a victory so tantalizingly within reach based on, first, such a narrow margin and, second, such a readily available legal argument for invalidating disputed ballots."[62]
In the House election, Democrat Rita Hart lost by only six votes to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Unofficial results shortly after election day showed Miller-Meeks with a 282-vote lead. Official results, which included late-arriving absentee ballots and corrected canvassing errors, narrowed that lead to 44. A recount narrowed that vote still further to six votes. Hart chose not to appeal the election in the "contest court", arguing that Iowa law did not allow enough time, as from the November 30 certification date, the court would have had only eight days to organize and then carry out the recount.[63] Instead she contested the election in the House of Representatives, asking for another recount, on the grounds that 22 votes were erroneously excluded due to poll worker error (and Iowa law had no way to remedy this) and that the recount was not done uniformly over the district.[64] Miller-Meeks was provisionally sworn in and requested the House Committee on Administration dismiss the contest, but that request was denied. On March 31, after several Democratic House members publicly stated that they would not vote to change the result, Hart withdrew her contest.[65] It was the 2nd closest House race in US history and the closest since 1824.
The initial count showed that Democrat Frank McCloskey had won by 72 votes, but Indiana's Republican Secretary of State refused to certify him pending a legal challenge by his Republican challenger Rick McIntyre.[66] After a tabulation error was found a month later McIntyre took the lead by 34 votes and was certified by the Secretary, even though a recount was on-going.[67] When the House opened it chose to seat neither person, but to pay them as though they were both members. The statewide recount was completed in late January and gave McIntyre a 418-vote lead, but against the Democratic-controlled House chose not to seat McIntyre, against the wishes of Republicans.[68] The House conducted their own recount, in which they made several controversial decisions, and seated McCloskey after declaring him the winner by just four votes. Republicans, who sought to declare the election void and call for a special election, staged a procedural protest and a walk out to protest what they viewed as a stolen seat.[69][70]
Before senate electoral reform in 2016, the Australian senate was elected by a series of complex preference deals. At one point the next party to be eliminated was between the Shooters and Fishers Party and the Australian Christians. The margin was effectively one vote at that point in the count, and depending on which party was ahead either the Labor Party and PUP or the Sports Party and the Greens would have been elected.
As the recount was taking place it became apparent that there were some missing ballots, which was greater than the margin, so the election was voided and a re-run was conducted in 2014.[72]
In the runoff election, Henry Whitehorn, a Democrat, defeated Republican John Nickelson by one vote. After a court challenge, the election was rerun; Whitehorn won again with a larger margin.[73]
Herbert L. Connolly lost to Robert B. Kennedy by one vote, and it was his own. Connolly arrived at his precinct a few minutes after the polls closed and was not able to vote. Kennedy won the following general.[75][76]
In the General Election, Mark Oaten led Gerry Malone by 2 votes (26,100–26,098).[80] A total of 55 ballot papers were excluded from the count for want of official mark, of which 18 were votes in favor of Oaten and 22 in favor of Malone. Therefore, Malone would have had a majority of 2 votes had they been included in the count. On hearing an Election Petition in the High Court on 6 October 1997 Lord Justice Brooke and Mr. Justice Gage ordered that there should be a fresh election. The petition also stated that four voters cast tendered ballots after claiming to have been impersonated, but the impersonators could not be found and the allegation was not pursued.[81] In the subsequent by-election, Oaten easily beat Malone (37,006–15,450).
The initial tally had incumbent Democrat George T. Garrison up 70 votes on Readjuster challenger Robert M. Mayo. The Readjuster-controlled State Board of Canvassers then threw out the votes of Gloucester County and Hog Island precinct (Garrison had received all 14 votes from Hog Island). The new totals then had Mayo up one: 10,505–10,504. (A third candidate, the Republican John W. Woltz, received 168 votes).[83] Mayo was seated and served for a little over a year, but Garrison contested the result. The Committee of Elections then chose to accept the Gloucester County and Hog Island ballots and the House voted unanimously to seat Garrison.[84]
Plato Durham (D) was initially declared elected over Alexander H. Jones (R) with an 18-vote majority: 10,347–10,329. When Republicans began to complain of fraud, the votes were sent to General Canby at Charleston, who threw out enough for Jones to defeat Durham. Jones was then elected by 1 vote, 10,329–10,328.[85][86][87][88][89]
Democrat Christine Gregoire defeated Republican Dino Rossi, following two recounts, after the initial count and first recount showed Rossi as the winner.
The candidate of the centre-left opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony defeated LMP candidate Dávid Vitézy who was backed by the Fidesz–KDNP alliance by 324 votes (0.0415%). Vitézy demanded a recount, asserting that a large portion of the ballots had been wrongfully deemed invalid. After recounting these ballots, the Hungarian National Election Office declared Karácsony the winner by a margin of 41 votes.[92][93]
A.J. Flint (National Labour) gained the seat from George Oliver (Labour). After the polls closed it became clear that the Ilkeston election was very close. There were four recounts overnight, and the Returning Officer decided to call a halt in the early hours to return later in the day. At the end of the fifth recount, the Returning Officer declared Flint elected by a majority of two votes over the sitting Labour MP. This result remains the joint smallest majority in any individual constituency election since universal suffrage.[94]
Going into the fourth (and final) count, sitting Fine Gael TD Dan Neville trailed his party colleague Michael Finucane, also an outgoing TD, 7,862 to 7,867 in the race for the third and final seat. He picked up 702 votes transferred from the eliminated candidates, six more than his opponent, to win by one vote. Finucane requested a recount, but when it became clear that the margin of his defeat would only increase, he requested the returning officer to terminate the recount, thus leaving the official margin of defeat at one vote. "I am happy enough with the findings and I accept it. Democracy has spoken and I am sure there are many people out there feeling sorry at this stage that they didn't vote for me to tip me over the line."[97][98]
On the initial tally, incumbent Democrat James C. Allen was ahead of challenger Republican William B. Archer by one vote: 8452–8451.
Archer contested. Livingston precinct had initially certified Allen and Archer's votes as 47–100 (in that precinct). But they later certified that they had made a mistake and the vote (in that precinct) should instead have been 46–102. In which case the overall vote should have been 8,451–8,453.
The Committee of Elections concluded that Allen had won by at least 1 and probably 2 votes and recommended that he be seated. However, the House voted 94–90 that Allen was not qualified and also voted 91–89 that Archer would not be seated either. The seat was thus vacated.[99][100]
A special election in 1856 was a rematch between Allen and Archer, and Allen soundly defeated Archer 13,081–10,136.[101]
Republican Rebecca Keltie defeated incumbent Democrat Stephanie Vigil by just 3 votes. The initial count had Keltie win by 6, and a one point during the recount the two were tied but 3 votes were determined to have been erroneously counted for Vigil and they were removed.[105] The race carried extra importance as the seat cost Democrats their supermajority in the House.[106]
The vote count after election day had Governor Elmer L. Andersen in the lead by 142 votes. Then-Lieutenant Governor Karl Rolvaag went to court and won the right for a recount.[108] After the recount, it was determined that Rolvaag of the DFL had defeated Andersen, Republican, by 91 votes out of over 1.2 million cast. Rolvaag collected 619,842 votes to Andersen's 619,751.
Following a count, recount and hand-to-eye recount in 1% of precincts, Incumbent Chief Justice Cheri Beasley was defeated by Justice Paul Newby. The result meant that Republicans won all 8 statewide judicial races in the 2020 general election.[109]
In the initial vote count, the sitting member Republican George C. Scott won by a majority of 131 votes, which Thomas J. Steele contested, alleging failure to count votes cast for the contestant and illegal counting of votes for the contestee. After a series of recounts, during which the lead switched back and forth and the contest was even tied at one point, the tally changed to 26,033–26,029 and after some legal wrangling (about lost ballots and votes by Iowa National Guardsmen serving at the Texas border), Scott was declared elected by the Democratically-controlled House.[110]
In the initial count, Democrat Jim Glenn defeated Republican incumbent DJ Johnson by 1 vote, which was confirmed by a recanvass. Johnson filed for a recount, and Glenn was seated on January 8, 2019. The House later ordered another recount which was carried out over the weekend of January 30.[112][113] Following that recount, Glenn emerged as the winner by 3 votes, but then the County Board of Electors voted to reinstate one of the votes taken from Johnson earlier in the day and later to count five of 17 rejected absentee ballot. The result was a 6,323–6,323 tie.[114][115] On February 8, 2019, when Glenn threatened to sue if a coin toss were held and he lost, Johnson withdrew his challenge, thus settling the election.[116]
2022
New York State Senate
District 50
0.00812%
10
61,579
Incumbent Democrat John Mannion defeated Republican Rebecca Shiroff.[117]
2014
North Carolina District Court
District 5
0.00813%
5
30,746
Lindsey McKee Luther defeated Kent Harrell for North Carolina District Court, District 5 by five votes: 30,746–30,741.[118]
Ed Mitchell defeated Kevin Entze by one vote: 5,870–5,869.[120][121] Adding insult to injury, one of Entze's friends admitted that they never got their ballot mailed. "He left his ballot on his kitchen counter and it never got sent out," Entze said.[122] Mitchell went on to narrowly lose the general election.[123]
There were six candidates for the three Rutland County Senate seats. On the night of the election, John H. Bloomer, Jr. and Cheryl M. Hooker received the first and second highest vote totals. Hull Maynard received the third highest total with 10,952 votes and Thomas Macaulay received the fourth highest total with 10,934 votes.
Macaulay petitioned for a recount, whereupon the Rutland Superior Court determined that Maynard still beat Macaulay by two votes: 10,978–10,976. Macaulay's petition for further relief was dismissed by the Senate.[128][129][130]
Republican George W. Bush was ahead of Democrat Al Gore after the initial count by 1,784 votes. After a mandatory statewide recount his lead was cut to 327.[131] After military and overseas ballots were added in, his lead increased to 930.[132] An additional hand recount was halted by the United States Supreme Court which resulted in the certified margin. Florida was the tipping point state for Bush's presidential victory.
Both the initial count and a recount showed that incumbent Gus Salley (R-Warsaw) had defeated Morran D. Harris (D-Osceola), though a clerical error cost Salley 100 votes, indicating the real result was not nearly as close.[1] Harris brought the case to the House Election Committee to decide, but they chose not to overturn the results.[139]
National Republican Henry Clay carried Maryland by four votes over Democratic President Andrew Jackson, but this is trivial since all of the electors were chosen based on the outcome in four districts. Had Jackson won the statewide vote, it would not have changed the electoral college vote.[140]
Henry Duke (Conservative), the incumbent at the time of the general election, re-gained the seat from Harold St Maur (Liberal) on an election petition in 1911. The court changed the original result (under which the Liberal had won by four votes). The revised result was the smallest numerical majority in a UK Parliamentary election in the twentieth century.[141]
After Democratic incumbent Blaine Eaton tied Republican Mark Tullos with 4,589 votes each, he won re-election by drawing the long straw.[142] However, Tullos asked the State House to review the results, which they did, resulting in them throwing out five affidavit ballots for Eaton. The ballots were cast by people who had moved within 30 days prior to the election and had not updated their address. The vote that seated Tullos was largely a party-line vote and gave Republicans a super-majority.[143] Which five ballots were invalidated was never publicly stated, but they were all for Eaton and so the committee stopped evaluation the votes, because even if the other four were for Tullos and also invalid, Tullos would still win by one vote. The final official count is unknown, and the count here is based on that decision.[144]
Representative Joseph F. O'Connell, a Democrat, defeated J. Mitchel Galvin, a Republican, by four votes, 16,553 to 16,549.[150] The record does not disclose the official returns, but a recount before a bipartisan board under the laws of Massachusetts gave O'Connell 16,553 votes, Galvin 16,549 votes, and two other candidates 1,380 and 1,187 votes, respectively, a plurality of 4 votes for Galvin, the sitting Member.[151]
Liberal incumbent Norman Cafik defeated Progressive Conservative Frank Charles McGee.[153] A PC win in this district would have resulted in a 108–108 tie with the Liberals in the overall seat count.
Socialist candidate Nándor Gúr defeated incumbent, conservative, Fidesz-candidate Oszkár Molnár by 9 votes. At Molnár's request, the Court decided to recount the votes and Gúr finally won by three votes.[155]
After the first count, Norm Coleman edged out Al Franken by 215 votes, but following a state mandated recount, Al Franken defeated Norm Coleman by 225.[156] Coleman contested the recount, after which Franken's lead grew to 312. After the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected Coleman's appeals, he conceded the race to Franken on June 30, 2009, 238 days after the election.[157]
Following a count, recount and hand-to-eye recount in 1% of precincts, Incumbent Justice Allison Riggs defeated Court of Appeals judge Jefferson Griffin.[159] Griffin filed hundreds of legal challenges to the vote, claiming that nearly 60,000 people voted illegally. His claims were rejected by the Democratically-controlled state board of elections and so Griffin asked the State Supreme Court to hear his case. Democrats filed a pre-emptive case in federal court, but a Donald Trump appointed judge sent it back to the state courts. On January 7, 2025 the Republican-controlled state Supreme Court blocked the certification of the election until Griffin's case could be heard by the court.[160]
In this three-way race between Democrat Sam Gejdenson, Republican Edward Munster, and Connecticut Party candidate David Bingham, the initial official tally was 79,169–79,167–27,729 (186,065 total votes).[161] Following a recount, Gejdenson and Munster were 79,160–79,156 with 186,030 total votes cast. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled instead that the correct final tally was 79,188–79,167, awarding the seat to Gejdenson.[162] (However the Court did not mention what the correct total number of votes cast was.) Munster originally contested the election in the Republican-controlled House, but withdrew his contest citing the expense and time it would take.[163]
Superior Court Judge Timothy Tomasi determined that Francis K. Brooks defeated fourth-place finisher Ashley Hill by one vote in the Democratic primary for the three-member at-large Washington County district, 3,709 to 3,708.[165] The victory hinged on a disputed ballot from Worcester that Tomasi determined contained a vote for Brooks, but not one for Hill.[165] Brooks went on to finish third in the general election that fall, unseating longtime incumbent Republican Bill Doyle by 191 votes.[166]
On 2 March 1968, Martin Cameron contested the seat of Millicent for the House of Assembly, standing against the sitting member, and minister in the Labor Cabinet, Des Corcoran. Narrowly losing the seat by one vote (3635–3634), the Liberal and Country League challenged the decision and the election was referred to the South Australian Court of Disputed Returns. The court ordered a by-election, which was held on 22 June. This was won comfortably by Corcoran (3994–3564), the Dunstan-led Australian Labor Party running the campaign on electoral reform.[168]
Liberal incumbent Aimé Boucher defeated Conservative Paul-François Comtois.[169] The riding result was later declared void, and Boucher won the by-election in 1933 by 84 votes (0.1%).
Australian Labor Party candidate Tom Smith won the seat, unseating Liberal National Party MP David Batt, by just 9 votes, after distribution of minor candidate preferences. The margin had been initially reported as 11 votes, but was reduced to 9 votes after a formal recount.[172]
After the initial tally, challenger Ileana Garcia led incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez by 21 votes. An automatic hand recount extended that lead to 32 votes. The race was marred by fraud as a 3rd party candidate, also with the last name Rodriquez, received more than 6000 votes after being funded by a mysterious donor who funded an ad campaign that seemed designed to confuse voters.[174] A few months after the election the candidate, Alex Rodríguez, pleaded guilty to accepting illegal campaign donations and lying on campaign documents and agreed to testify against former Sen. Frank Artiles who had been charged with felony campaign fraud charges in March 2021.[175]
Official count showed a margin of 3 vote for Joseph L. Looby (D) over Wilmer R. Waters (R), but it was 1 after a recount. A case was filed with the circuit court, where the judge declared the margin was two votes. An election committee investigated, but could make no proclamation of the true margin. After Waters appealed to the Republican controlled assembly, it voted unanimously to seat Looby.[1][176]
2018
Pennsylvania House of Representatives Republican primary
Sitting Member Royal H. Weller had been returned by an official plurality of 245 votes, which the contestant Martin C. Ansorge contested. Following a recount, the tally was 32,089–32,079 and Weller was declared elected.[179]
Republican Jeremiah M. Wilson defeated Democrat David S. Gooding by 4 votes: 12561–12557.[182] Gooding contested. The Committee's majority report gave Wilson a "clear legal majority of 8", while the minority report gave Gooding a majority of 17. The US House then voted 105–64 (71 abstentions) "on strictly party lines" to reject the minority report, accept the majority report, and thereby seat Wilson.[183][184][185]
Republican incumbent Neil C. Fraley defeated Democratic challenger Bernard I. Gonder by one vote: 3,080–3,079.[186][187][188][189] Gonder contested the result but to no avail.[190]
The Kemuning state constituency was shifted east in the 2004 redelineation, absorbing most of the abolished Banggol Judah constituency. Incumbent Banggol Judah assemblyman Zakaria Yaacob retained the seat for PAS by two votes against UMNO candidate Wan Mohamad Zin Mat Amin, 6,078–6,076. Crucially, this allowed PAS to maintain control of the Kelantan assembly throughout the term as it won 24 seats to UMNO's 22, and UMNO subsequently cut PAS' margin to one seat by winning the 2005 Pengkalan Pasir by-election.
In the recount, Robert B. Kennedy led Herbert Connolly by one vote: 14,716–14,715.[194] (Connolly had actually failed to vote for himself.)[195] In the recount, Kennedy again led by one vote: 14,691–14,690. Connolly contested the result. The Supreme Judicial Court considered 116 contested votes and decided ultimately that Kennedy won by five votes: 14,709–14,704.[196]
Conservative incumbent Bernard Généreux was initially declared the winner by 311 votes. Subsequently, the returning officer determined that approximately 300 votes for the New Democratic candidate, François Lapointe, had been allocated to the Green Party candidate in error. After the correction, Lapointe was declared elected by 5 votes, prompting an automatic judicial recount. As a result of this recount, Lapointe was confirmed as the victor over Généreux by 9 votes, 17,285-17,276.[199]
After the initial count, Republican Arthur B. Jenks was declared the winner by 550 votes, however a recount left the vote tied at 51,690 votes each. Both parties contested ballots, 108 in total, to the state ballot-law commission which after ruling on each determined that Alphonse Roy had won 51,695-51,678. After those hearings were over, Jenks argued that there was a 36-ballot discrepancy between those cast and those counted in Newton. The ballot-law commission called for another recount, finding the count was now 51,702 to 51,678, but also that 34 ballots were missing and that they should be awarded to Jenks making him the winner by 10 votes. Roy contested, and though Jenks was not sworn in until two days after Congress met, he did take office. During Roy's contest the majority of the Committee on Elections found that though there was a discrepancy between the ballots and the tally sheet, there was no evidence that any ballots had disappeared due to fraud or mistake and that in such a conflict the ballots should be considered the best evidence of the votes cast; and they found that four additional ballots should be awarded to Jenks raising his total to 51,682. The minority of the committee argued that they could establish both by testimony and the tally sheets that more people had voted in Newton than there were ballots to count; that in every race in Newton Republicans had lost 34 votes in the recount and Democrats had lost zero; and that the number of ballots (used and unused) returned to the state was 34 lower than what was sent. In the end the Democratically-controlled House decided to accept the majority's position, and on June 9, 1938 Jenks was removed from office and Roy was seated. Jenks then won election five months later and served until 1943.[200][201]
Initially Democrat Darrel Nemecek beat Republican Todd Thomsen by two votes for the Oklahoma House of Representatives seat in its 25th district. But during the recount, a Hughes County judge threw out four votes for Nemecek when it was discovered the voters who cast the contested ballots were not registered to vote in the district. Though Nemecek argued that the straight-party option was confusing and voter intent was clear on some ballots that were not counted for him, Thomsen was declared the winner and sworn in.[204][205][206]
2004
Commonwealth's Attorney Special Election
Radford District
0.0211%
1
2,375
Chris E. Rehak defeated Patrick Moore by 1 vote, and a recount did not change the margin.[207]
The race for Maryland's 6th District House Seat was originally declared a tie, and so the Governor and Council of Maryland – in what they thought was accordance of the law – decided to seat Jeremiah Cosden. Phillip Reed, who like Cosden was a Democratic-Republican, contested the election. The House decided that the Governor and Council were not allowed to choose a winner; that two votes for Reed that were excluded ought to count and that one that was counted for him was illegal. As a result Cosden, who had been seated for 15 days, was removed and Reed was seated for the remainder of the term.[45][208]
In the Democratic primary for the chance to replace Alcee Hastings who had died in April, healthcare executive Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness by just five votes. The election day results had Cherfilus-McCormick ahead by 12 votes, but a recount narrowed that lead to five.[209]
Liberal William Forsythe McCreary defeated Conservative John Herber Haslam.[211] This was the second time in a row that a Liberal candidate defeated his Conservative rival in this riding by a single vote.
2024
Colorado House of Representatives Republican primary
Election Day results gave Democrat Donna Howard a 16 vote victory. Following a recount, that lead was cut to 12 votes. Republican Dan Neil requested the election by investigated by the House of Representatives.[216] After a four-day hearing headed up by Representative Will Hartnett, Howard was found to have won the election by 4 votes and Neil ultimately dropped the contest.[216] The Secretary of State still reports an official margin of 12 votes.[217]
Initially, Isaac Wilson and Parmenio Adams had 2,093–2,077 votes. On a recount, the tally changed to 2,071–2,072. There were also irregularities raised. The committee of elections considered it "doubtful, from the evidence, who ought to have been returned". The House then voted 116–85 to seat Adams.[219]
A recount gave Republican Bob Curran a 1-vote victory over the incumbent Democrat Jen Patterson, after leading by 2 votes following the official canvass.[1][225]
2018
Oregon House of Representatives Republican primary
William Allen (later 31st Governor of Ohio) defeated General and 11th Governor of Ohio Duncan McArthur by two votes: 3739–3737.[227] According to Niles' National Register, a third candidate by the name of Murphy also won 55 votes.[228]
In a three-way race, Edward J. Grimley, Jr. topped Gerard A. Guilmette by three votes, but Guilmette ran in the general and topped him by 2.2%. The two would meet again in both the 1972 primary and general with Grimley winning both, also in close races. Guilmette would then serve two terms representing 25th Essex.[231]
Andrew Collaro defeated Robert J. Bohigian, but then Bohigian defeated him by 900+ votes in the general. Collaro. Bohigian would repeat this process in 1972, and then Collaro would represent 22nd and 15th Worcester from 1974 to 1992. Bohigian would serve until he lost re-election in 1990.[232]
Four-term incumbent Jean-Pierre Door of The Republicans (LR) narrowly defeated Mélusine Harlé of La République En Marche! by eight votes in the second round. Harlé filed an appealed the result to the Constitutional Council,[233] which annulled the election on 18 December 2017 due to the number of ballots not corresponding to the number of signatures in one commune and the improper dissemination of electoral materials which was considered sufficient to potentially have altered the result of the election.[234] Door won the seat in a 2018 election.
Initial election returns handed Republican Frederick C. Hicks, a 15 vote win over Representative Lathrop Brown, a Democrat. A review of ballots by the New York Supreme Court took more than a year, and when it was completed the lead was cut to four votes, 17,726 to 17,722.[150][239] A review by the Court of Appeals changed the plurality to 10 votes. Hicks was issued a certificate of election on December 21, 1915 – more than 13 months after he election, making this one of the longest in the history of the House. Brown contested the election, arguing that there were errors made by the inspectors (and that some precinct workers were drunk on election day), but the House found that they could not review the ballots unless the returns had been discredited, which they had not.[240]
Former President Theodore Roosevelt, running on the Republican and Progressive ballot lines in California (Republican President William Howard Taft was not on the ballot in the state, although he did receive 3,914 write-in votes), narrowly edged out Democrat Woodrow Wilson in California, but Wilson won a landslide in the Electoral College due to divided Republican opposition.[246]
Patricia Krueger (R) defeated Stephen DeStefano (D) by 16 votes. Following a recount that was narrowed to 7. DeStefano appealed the recount but the count was only changed by 2 votes.[247]
National incumbent Paula Bennett retained her seat over Labour challenger Carmel Sepuloni after a judicial recount was requested by Bennett. The original official result had Sepuloni winning with a margin of 11 votes.[250][251]
Ronnie R. Campbell beat Jimmy Ayers and two other challengers in a special primary election caused by Ben Cline being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.[253]
Democratic challenger Joe Courtney was up 167 votes on Republican incumbent Rob Simmons after the initial vote.[256] On the recount, Courtney remained the victor by 83 votes: 121,248–121,165.[257]
Republican Claudia Tenney, after a lengthy set of recounts and court cases, defeated Anthony Brindisi by 109 votes in a race that was not decided until early February. When the polls initially closed, Tenney held a large 28,422-vote lead based on the in-person vote. But as mail-in ballots poured in, her lead dwindled to 12 votes. As the courts reviewed ballots the lead grew and shrank until a judge ruled the race over and that Tenney should be certified. With appeals still pending, Brindisi conceded and dropped all legal challenges on February 8, 2021.[259]
Democrat James R. Buckley defeated incumbent Republican John J. Gorman by 42 votes. Gorman contested the election on the basis that there were many errors, mistakes, and irregularities and a recount would show he had won. However Gorman failed to submit his evidence within the 30 days required and therefore had no standing. In a rematch in 1924, Gorman regained his seat.[262]
When ballots were originally canvassed, James J. Britt held a scant 13-vote lead over challenger Zebulon Weaver. However, Buncombe County decided to accept 90 unmarked ballots (ballots that were printed as either Republican or Democratic ballots) and those ballots gave Weaver an 8 vote lead. Weaver was certified and provisionally seated while Britt contested the election. The House found in his favor, but by the time he was sworn in, there was only four days remaining in his term.[266]
Republican nominee Bart LeBon defeated Democrat Kathryn Dodge 2,663-2,662 following a recount and a state supreme court challenge.[274][275] Dodge challenged the findings of the Division of Elections on three ballots, two that were counted and one that was not, but the Supreme Court upheld the count and Dodge conceded. The race decided control of the Alaska House of Representatives, technically giving Republicans a majority, but due to defections created a 20–20 tie instead of Democratic control.[276] After weeks of deadlock, Bryce Edgmon (who originally won his seat with a coin toss) switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Independent and was re-elected Speaker and several committees were set up with bipartisan leadership.
Liberal Richard Durante defeated New Democratic incumbent Thomas Speakman Barnett.[170] The result was later declared void and Durante lost the by-election to Barnett in 1969.
In 1828, the 20th district had two representatives and all candidates ran in one race. Jacksonian Silas Wright, Jr. finished in 3rd place, 7 votes behind Adams-supporter George Fisher. Wright contested the outcome and a House investigation found that 130 votes for Wright had not been returned for him because of mistakes by election officials. The House removed Fisher, who did not object to the outcome and resigned, and gave the seat to Wright. Wright in the meantime had been elected state comptroller and so he refused to qualify for the seat, which was later filled by a special election.[281][282]
Initially, Rosemary Mulligan and Penny Pullen were certified as having 7,431–7,400 votes and Mulligan was declared the winner. The trial court ordered a recount that then had them tied at 7,387–7,387. The Illinois Compiled Statutes required that ties be resolved by lot.[287] Mulligan won the coin flip and was declared the winner by the trial court. Pullen then appealed, and the Illinois Supreme Court decided that the correct vote count was 7,392–7,386, with Pullen declared the winner. Two years later Mulligan took another swing at the seat, and defeated Pullen in a race so close it also required a recount.[288]
Labour's candidate Neil Duncan-Jordan narrowly defeated the Conservative candidate Robert Syms by only 18 votes. The result was declared after three recounts.[289]
C. Timothy Lindstrom (D) was originally declared the winner, but later it was discovered that election officials in Greene County misread a "9" as a "0" and Peter Way (R) went on to win the election.[291][292]
Democratic candidate Mark Herring defeated Republican candidate Mark Obenshain. The initial count was 1,103,777–1,103–612—a 165 or 0.01% margin. The recount was 1,105,045–1,104,138 — a 907 or 0.04% margin.
South Carolina was readmitted to Congress in 1868, after passage of the 14th Amendment. That amendment ended the three-fifths rule effectively raising the population of states that once had slavery. As a result, South Carolina and other slave states tried to seat extra members of Congress. South Carolina choose two additional congress members during at-large election. In one of those, Johann Peter Martin Epping defeated Lucius W. Wimbush by 61 votes: 71,803–71,742. But the House refused to seat him and the other at-large winner. "A number of southern states upon readmission claimed that since their slaves were emancipated, they were entitled to larger delegations in the House. Epping's election falls in this category. The claims were rejected by the House."[295][296][297][298]
General election saw return of Australian Labor Party MP Ken Davies over his Liberal Party rival, Frank Tanti, after distribution of preferences of minor candidates, by just 16 votes. However, due to the non-arrival of some overseas military ballots, a Court of Disputed Returns required a fresh election, at which Tanti won. As this seat was the difference between a Labor Party majority and a Liberal Party supported by an Independent MP, the overturning of the result was a rare example of the fate of an entire government resting on a challenge to an ultra-close constituency.
The initial count gave the victory to Randy Brock (R) by 137 votes, but after a recount, Thomas M. Salmon (D) was declared the winner by just 102 votes. The final tally gave Salmon 111,770 votes and Republican Brock 111,668.[304]
On election night, Tim Stevenson of the British Columbia New Democratic Party had the lead over Lorne Mayencourt of the British Columbia Liberal Party, but Mayencourt had a 17-vote lead after a recount. When the absentee ballots were counted later, Maynecourt widened his lead by one vote.[307] Following an additional recount ordered by the courts, Maynecourt retained an 11-vote lead and was declared the winner.[308] Stevenson sued, arguing that 71 absentee ballots had improperly certified and thus uncounted and that a new election was needed, but then dropped the suit to run for a seat on the city council.[309]
In the official count after election day, Republican George O. Chambers defeated Democrat J. Edward Roush by 3 votes and by 12 votes after the canvas. He was certified as the winner, but Roush contested the outcome and the Democratically-controlled House first decided that neither should be seated. After a review of the ballots, the House Committee determined that Roush had won the seat by 99 votes and on June 14, 1961 passed a resolution to seat him.[200]
Representatives Addo Bonetti and John J. Miscikowski were both moved into the 65th district after legislative redistricting in 1972.[316] Bonetti was initially defeated in the primary by Miscikowski by one vote and a recount maintained Miscikowski's one vote victory.[315][317] However, Judge George Saden invalidated the primary and ordered a new one due to a Republican having mistakenly voted in the primary.[318] Bonetti defeated Miscikowski in the second primary and won in the general election against Republican nominee Edwin R. Chadwick.[319][320]
An independent representative of Zaporizhia Iron Ore Works Oleksandr Hryhorchuk initially defeated the pro-Party of Regions incumbent Volodymyr Bandurov by 138 votes. Bandurov contested the result and obtained a recount, and won with a margin of 17 votes following the recount. Hryhorchuk contested the recount as irregular.[322]
This was the fourth matchup between incumbent Democrat Sarah Buxton and Republican David Ainsworth (their first matchup had also been decided by one vote). The initial tally had Buxton leading by 3 votes: 1,003–1,000.
The first recount had them both tied at 1,000.
The second recount then had Ainsworth win by one vote, 1,004–1,003. Buxton did not make any further appeals and this was the final result.[324][325]
After longtime leader Mario Dumont stepped down from the leadership of the party, an election was held. In a very close race, Gilles Taillon defeated his opponent Éric Caire, by just 2 votes.[328]
When this race was certified in early December, after numerous court battles, Democrat Jim Brewster had 69 votes more than Republican Nicole Ziccarelli. However a dispute over 311 absentee and mail-in ballots that were signed, but not dated lingered in the courts into January. Though Brewster was certified, Republicans in the state Senate blocked Brewster from taking his oath of office and removed the Democratic lieutenant governor from his role overseeing the proceedings.[331] A week later, after Ziccarelli lost her appeal, she conceded and Brewster was sworn in.[332]
Democratic challenger Milton Speer defeated Republican incumbent Daniel J. Morrell by 11 votes: 10335–10324.[334][335][336] Morrell declined to contest the results, blaming the loss on the "base treachery and debauchery of professed Republicans."
On the night of the Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Congressman Matt Salmon, State Senator Andy Biggs led by a total of 16 votes against Republican challenger Christine Jones. After a recount, that lead widened to 27 votes, and Jones conceded the election.[338]
For much of its early history, New Jersey chose all of its Congressional delegation in an at-large election, with each voter getting to vote for however many candidates that there were seats and usually each party's slate of candidates would thus have similar numbers of votes. In 1838, New Jersey had six seats and so each voter could vote for six candidates. The voting for the parties was very close and at first it appeared that all 6 Whig candidates had been re-elected and their election was certified by the Whig governor who applied the states "broad seal" to them. The Democrats contested the election on the grounds that the votes of two townships were excluded and that if included would've swung the election and this became known as the "Broad Seal War". The House, which held a 2-seat majority without the NJ delegation, decided to seat one of the Whigs but leave the other 5 seats vacant. After the contest was investigated, and the excluded votes counted, 5 of the 6 Democrats were declared winners. They were seated in July 1840. In the end only 197 votes separated the Democrat's best finisher from the Whig's worst. Charles C. Stratton came in 7th, only 31 votes behind Democrat Joseph Kille a difference of only 0.05455%. John P. B. Maxwell missed out by 40 votes, or 0.0703%. The 6 Democrats averaged 28,429 votes and the Whigs 28,360 for an average advantage of only 69 votes or 0.12%.[342][343]
On the initial tally, challenger Democrat Sarah Buxton and incumbent Republican David Ainsworth had 882-881 votes. On a recount, they were tied, with one mailed-in military vote for Buxton rejected. Buxton appealed and the Superior Court ruled that vote valid, so that Buxton still won by one vote (881–880). Ainsworth then appealed but the House voted along party lines to uphold Buxton's one-vote victory.[130][346][347] Remarkably, their fourth matchup in 2016 would again be decided by one vote, but with the result reversed.
Democratic challenger Benjamin F. Meyers defeated Republican incumbent John Cessna by 15 votes: 12,859–12,844.[353][354] Cessna contested the election and on January 18, 1872 the House Committee on Elections decided in favor of Meyers.[355][356] In a rematch later that year, Cessna reclaimed his seat.
Kyoto 4th district’s incumbent Hideo Tanaka belonged to LDP. However, LDP expelled Tanaka because he opposed the postal privatization bill.[359] LDP nominated Yasuhiro Nakagawa as a candidate. As a result, Nakagawa defeated Tanaka by 156 votes.[360]
Incumbent Kwame Twumasi Ampofo of the National Democratic Congress narrowly won reelection against Joseph Kumah Mackey of the New Patriotic Party. The Electoral Commission took longer than expected to declare a winner, in part due to the closeness of the election and in part due to an incident in which a member of the NPP stole a ballot box which had to be inspected.[362] This result led to a hung parliament as a single independent prevented either party from reaching a majority of seats (although the lone independent decided to vote with the NPP).[363]
The initial[366] count showed Republican Harold French with a 13-vote lead over Democrat Andrew Hosmer. Following a recount, that widened to 17 votes.[367]
The initial count showed Incumbent Republican Fred Martin ahead with a 6-vote lead over Democratic challenger Jim Bratnober. Following a recount, that widened to 11 votes.[369]
In this remarkable rematch, four candidates, Democrats John R. McIntyre and Robert Litz; and Republicans Hal Wick and Judy Rost, were contesting two seats. On the initial count, they had respectively 3,229 (25.84%), 2,250 (18.00%), 3,229 (25.84%), and 3,790 (30.32%) (12,498 total votes). As in 1996, Rost won the first seat, while McIntyre and Wick tied for the second seat.
But on a recount, McIntyre was found to be ahead by 4 votes, with the final official tally being 3,219 (25.85%), 2,244 (18.02%), 3,215 (25.81%), 3,776 (30.32%) (12,454 total votes).
The House then voted 36–33, this time to seat McIntyre.[27][374]
Former President Grover Cleveland narrowly carried California over Republican President Benjamin Harrison and went on to reclaim the presidency in a rematch of the 1888 presidential elections, thus becoming both the 22nd and 24th president of the United States.[375]
Just a year after becoming the fiftieth state, Hawaii surprised many political experts by voting for Democrat John F. Kennedy over Republican Richard Nixon, albeit by a very small margin.[376]
In a three-way race, James L. Grimaldi topped Anthony M. Scibelli by three votes. Grimaldi would win the general, but then lose the 1972 primary to Scibelli. He would win the seat in 14th Hampden twice and then lose the seat for 10th Hampden to Scibelli. Scibelli would serve from 1972 to 2000.[377]
William McKinley was elected president twice by comfortable Electoral College majorities, but his only victory in a Southern state was his razor-thin win over William Jennings Bryan in Kentucky in his initial presidential run, becoming the first Republican ever to win Kentucky.[383] McKinley won Kentucky; however one Elector cast a vote for Bryan.
Incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor party candidate Brad Tabke beat Republican Aaron Paul by 15 votes after a recount that extended his margin by 1 vote.[384] Paul sued because 20 absentee ballots went missing and were likely thrown away by an election official. At a December 17th hearing, 6 voters whose ballots were lost said they voted for Tabke, meaning that there were not enough votes for Paul to overcome the deficit.[385]
Since Florida's electoral votes decided George W. Bush's electoral college win over Al Gore, little attention was paid to the fact that New Mexico's outcome was even closer (in terms of raw vote) than the Florida result, this time with Gore coming out ahead.[386]
Two weeks after the election was over, the vote was still tied and went to a recount, which Republican Terry McMillan won by 8 votes.[387] After another close loss in 2014, Democrat Joanne Ferrary defeated McMillan in 2016.[388]
Although the 0.38% victory margin for President Woodrow Wilson in California—which gave Wilson the thirteen electoral votes he needed to win reelection over Republican Charles Evans Hughes—garnered most of the attention, Wilson's surprise 56-vote victory over Hughes in New Hampshire (the only Northeastern state that Hughes did not carry) was the closest contest in the election.[389]
In the September 1828 election, Reuel Washburn and James Ripley had 2,495–2,180 votes. But Maine law required that the winner have an absolute majority of the votes, i.e. 2,498 votes and so Washburn was 3 short. A new election was held in December 1828 and Ripley won a majority. There was some further wrangling but eventually Ripley was declared elected.[45]
Republican Dave Adkins recaptured his spot in the New Mexico House over challenger Ronnie Martinez. The original count had him ahead by just two votes.[390] However, a recount widened that lead to 9.[391]
Republican incumbent Michael Bergan won the initial vote count over Democrat Kayla Koether by seven votes and the recount by nine.[394] Koether contested the election, arguing that 29 of 33 disputed absentee ballots were wrongly rejected. The ballots were received on time, and the barcode proved they were mailed prior to the election, as required by law, but the barcode used on the disputed ballot differed from the postage stamp or “intelligent mail barcode" called for by the Iowa Code and administrative rules. After a district judge declined to decide if the ballots should be counted, Koether petitioned the Iowa House to settle the matter. On party-line votes in both the committee (3-2) and the Iowa House (53-42), legislators decided that the Iowa House did not have the legal authority to open and count the ballots.[395]
Khamis Masoud Khamis of the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) defeated Ahmad Abdulrahman Idarus of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) by one vote in Chake Chake,[396] giving the ASP a 10–9 lead in what the Guinness Book of Records listed as the closest ever general election.[397][398] Three other MPs split, leaving the 22-member assembly deadlocked between two 11-member blocs.[397] Dissatisfaction with the electoral system precipitated the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.[397]
Democratic-Farmer-Labor party candidate John Persell beat incumbent Republican Representative Matt Bliss by 11 votes after a recount that extended his margin by 3 votes.[399]
Republican Steve Troxler defeated Democrat Britt Cobb.[408] A failure by poll workers to change the memory card in a voting machine used for early voting in Carteret County led to the loss of 4,000 votes. The State Board of Elections voted 3-2 in favor of calling a new statewide election for the seat over calling a new election in Carteret County alone; 4 votes would have been required to take action on either option. In early December, the North Carolina Board of Elections ordered a new election for January 11, 2005, in Carteret County alone, for voters whose ballots had been lost or who had not voted in the November 2 election. Both candidates appealed the decision, Cobb arguing that a statewide revote should be held, Troxler arguing that a revote should be limited to those voters whose votes were lost. A Wake County superior court judge overturned this decision on December 17, calling it "arbitrary and capricious" and "contrary to law," requiring the State Board of Elections to revisit the issue. On December 29, the State Board of Elections ordered a new statewide election for the post. On January 13, 2005, the superior court invalidated this order as well, and sent the contest back to the Elections Board for resolution. Following this ruling, Cobb chose to concede defeat rather than continue a court battle with no clear way to resolve the issue. On February 4, the State Board of Elections officially certified Troxler as the winner of the 2004 election.
According to the returns as originally certified, incumbent Jacob L. Milligan and challenger H. F. Lawrence had 32,665–32,626 votes. The recount of this precinct gave Milligan a clear majority of 46 votes, with the vote being 32,669–32,623.[410][411]
Dwight Eisenhower was elected president in a landslide, but lost Kentucky by the smallest margin of any state Presidential battle for thirty-six years, giving a sixth straight Democratic win in the Bluegrass State.[414]
Jennifer Callahan defeated Robert Dubois by 4 votes and then went on to win the seat. She lost re-election in 2010 and DuBois won nomination for the seat in 2012. He lose in the general.[417][418]
The sitting member, Gerry McCarthy, resigned and while the Labor candidate was ahead on the night, Country Liberal candidate Steve Edgington pulled ahead by 5 votes on postal votes making it the first time since 1990 that Labor had not held the seat.[421]
Martha McSally defeated Ron Barber, officially announced a month after the election, after a legally-mandated recount.[423] McSally had lost to Barber in 2012 by 2,454 votes.
After several days of vote counting, Albert Ritchie was declared the winner over Harry Nice, 112,240 votes to 112,075.[424] Ritchie would serve four terms as Governor, but would be defeated in 1934 by Nice, who won by 6,149.[425]
The initial count had Thomas Campbell up by 30 votes. George Hunt, the incumbent, contested; but before that could be settled his term expired. The courts then allowed Campbell to take office as de facto Governor in January 1917. After losing a case in the county court and winning at the state Supreme Court, Hunt became governor in December 1917, with the courts deciding he'd won by 43 votes.[434] Had the initial count stood this race would have been even closer, with the margin just 0.0536%.
The results of the initial ballot counting was close with Kean leading Florio by 1,677 votes. A recount took place over the next month and Kean was certified the winner besting Florio by 1,797 votes out of over 2.3 million votes cast.
Democratic attorney Thomas Bayard defeated appointed U.S. Senator T. Coleman DuPont by 60 votes out of 74K+ votes cast in a special election. Bayard simultaneously defeated DuPont by 0.43 points in the election to the seat for the unexpired six-year term.[437]
The initial count for this House seat gave the win to Republican Mark R. Bacon by a margin of 49 votes. However his opponent, Democrat Samuel Beakes, discovered that canvassers had failed to include more than 70 ballots and those ballots were then counted which gave Beakes the lead by 46 votes. Bacon argued that the ballot boxes were not safely preserved and so any new ballots should be considered void. The local and state election boards felt unable to rule and the State Supreme Court was unwilling to call for a recount, so Beakes contested the election in the House where Bacon had been seated. The Democratically-controlled House, which had a 3 seat majority at the time, ruled that the new ballots should be counted and they replaced Bacon with Beakes.[262]
In this three-way race, Labour Party incumbent Ben Tillett defeated Conservative Party challenger Samuel Finburgh 11,368–11,349. Tillett face Finbburgh again in the 1923 and 1924 General Elections, winning in 1923 but losing in 1924.[446]
The first count showed that Richard H. Stallings had defeated the incumbent Republican George V. Hansen by 133 votes. A partial recount upped that margin to 170. Hansen, who in the spring prior to the election had been convicted of filing false financial disclosure statements, contested the election arguing that illegally registered voters were allowed to vote and that he was denied a full recount. A review by the Idaho Attorney General determined that no unqualified persons voted and that the partial recount did not show enough material differences for a full recount to change the outcome, so the House dismissed his contest.[200]
Smith Brookhart won the election by 755 votes and was initially seated in the Senate without incident. After Brookhart was seated, Steck contested the election results. The investigation and recount took longer than a year, but on April 12, 1926 by a vote of 45–41, the Senate overturned the election results and gave the seat to Steck. This was the first time the Senate voted to overturn an election after the winner was seated.[437][448][449] The recount was contentious with claims of fraud and destroyed ballots, and with the special subcommittee inspecting each discarded ballot to determine voter intent. In the end the fact that Democrats wanted Steck elected and Republicans wanted to punish Brookhart for failing to support Coolidge, partisan politics likely did him in.[450]
Frank A. Antonelli topped Joseph Whelan by three votes and then lost the general election. He would win the nomination two more times and seek it two more than that, but never win the seat.[451]
Democrat Tom Daschle looked to have lost on election night, but an official canvas gave him a 6 vote margin.[452] The final tally gave him a 14 vote lead and a recount increased that to 105. Daschle was seated and his opponent Leo Thorsness appealed the recount in state court. A review of 1,084 contested ballots increased Daschle's lead to 110 votes, though a final count of the vote was not reported. Thorsness then contested the election in the House, but the case was dismissed as the House was satisfied with the count of the Iowa court and found no grounds to change the results.[200]
Labour candidate Liz Evans was defeated by the Conservative Byron Davies by 27 votes, less than 0.1% of votes cast, which made it the most marginal Conservative seat going into the next election. Davies' victory brought 105 consecutive years of Labour representation to an end, but Labour won the seat back in the 2017 general election with a majority of 3,269.
On election night, Democrat Robert Emond was declared the victor over incumbent Republican Sydney Nixon by one vote. Nixon then petitioned for a recount in Windham Superior Court under the provisions of 17 V.S.A. § 1361. The recount committee in that court found Nixon to be the winner by one vote and the court gave him a certificate of election.
However, a House committee did its own recount and found Emond to be the winner by one vote (572–571 according to one site[457]). Rather than force the full House to vote on the recount report, Nixon simply resigned, thereby giving Emond the win.[130][458][459][460][461]
(Note that the year of this contested election is incorrectly given by many sites as 1997.)
John Runk and Isaac G. Farlee 8,942–8,926 votes.[467] There was a dispute over whether some 36 Princeton students' votes were legal due to residency. The majority of the committee investigating the contest chose to consider them as residents and the minority that they were not, which they estimated would have given Farlee the win by 3 votes. The full House voted that Farlee was ineligible and then voted on a resolution to remove Runk too and declare the seat vacant. The vote on Runk was a tie, broken by the Speaker in Runk's favor.[468]
Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock took advantage of the opposition to Chinese immigration for the first Democratic win in California since 1856, but narrowly lost the electoral vote and the popular vote to Garfield.[469] The US presidential election is not decided by popular vote, but Garfield won the national popular vote by only 1,898 votes or 0.0213%.[a]
Republican Edward W. Goss defeated his challenger Martin Gormley by 78 votes. Gormley challenged the election in the House of Representatives arguing that "fraud, irregularities, corruption, and deceit" at a voting booth in Waterbury had cost him the votes to win. The House investigation showed confusion at the polling place, but no recorded complaints and inadequate evidence to overturn the election.[200]
In a four-way race, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, 74,481–74,325, with a further 18,085 votes split between Democrat Stephen A. Douglas and Republican Abraham Lincoln. However, Lincoln won the Electoral College.[482]
Anti-Jacksonian James Graham defeated National Republican David Newland by 7 votes. Newland contested the race and a review of ballots by the House gave the election to Newland by 12 votes, but the House ignored the committee's recommendation to replace Graham with Newland and voted 100-99 to instead vacate the seat.[45][484] A special election was held in the summer of 1836 which Graham won easily.
Democrat Abner V. Mikva was declared the winner by 201 votes. Following a discovery recount and the failure to get a judicial recount, Republican Samuel H. Young contested the election arguing that there were election irregularities or errors. The Committee on House Administration decided that there Young had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims and awarded the seat to Mikva. The election was a rematch of the 1974 race, and in that race Young had also contested the election to the House claiming fraud and violations of the law and that case was also dismissed for lack of evidence.[200]
In the initial count Republican Robert Hale won the race by 29 votes. A recount was held in which more than 4,000 ballots were disputed. Hale sued for a certificate, which the Governor first refused and then issued after asking the Supreme Court of Maine for decisions on matters of law. James Oliver, his opponent, then contested the election in the House. After a review of the disputed ballots, the House Committee ruled that Hale had won by a vote of 58,024-57,913.[489]
In this 3-way race, the initial tally for Linda McCulloch, Gail Gray, and Mike Schwinden was 31,572–31,508–28,739. Gray requested a recount and McCulloch still won by 61 votes: 31,634–31,573–28,765 votes.[493] McCulloch would also go on to win the general election.[494]
Republican Mike Garcia defeated Democrat Christy Smith by 333 votes. On election day, Smith appeared to be up by 1,287 votes but by the next day she was down by 157 votes. Further vote drops extended Garcia's lead and at the end of the month, Smith conceded.[498]
Democrat Grover Cleveland won his home state by less than 1,200 votes to earn New York's 36 electoral votes and clinch an Electoral College victory of 219-182. A swing of less than 0.1% would have made Republican James G. Blaine president with an Electoral College tally of 218-183.[500]
Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu was narrowly defeated by Elena Lasconi who went on to face the nationalist Călin Georgescu in a run-off.[504] Ciolacu was ahead until 99.91% of the votes were counted. This was the first time since 2000 that a nationalist candidate made it into the second round instead of either the National Liberals nor the now defunct Democratic Liberal Party. It is also first time in the post-communist period that Social Democrats failed to reach the run-off.[505]
List of close election results between parties passing the threshold in party-list proportional races
Nationally, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ, second place) and the center-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP, third place) were only 415 votes apart. They won 52 seats each in the 183-seat national council. This is significant as the two parties had enough seats to form a majority coalition government on their own. The traditional rule is that the Chancellor comes from the largest party in the coalition, but since the FPÖ and ÖVP each had an equal number of seats, the ranking between them had to be decided based on the popular vote – which would mean a Chancellor from the far-right, which drew domestic and international controversy.[507] Eventually, an FPÖ-ÖVP coalition government was formed, but under an ÖVP Chancellor.
Due to the traditional size of the parties, all European elections ended up with the seat ratio 2-2-1-1. In this election, For Europe managed to win the last seat instead of EDEK with just 37 votes.
The SPD of incumbent mayor Franziska Giffey got slightly more votes than Grüne led by Bettina Jarasch destroying their chances of forming a Green-led government.
List of parties close to the threshold in proportional races
The Party of Democratic Activity (A-SDA) had already won enough votes for a direct seat in their district, however if they had not done so, they would have been awarded a compensational seat and still be represented in the House of Representatives.[514]
The party initially had enough votes to get into the Tweede Kamer and the leader of the party, L.P. Laning, met with the Dutch Queen Juliana to discuss forming the government a day after the election. However, the party was ultimately 26 votes short, and its seat awarded to the PvdA.[516]
Velichie narrowly missed the threshold and thus lost parliamentary representation.[517] During the vote count, the party passed the threshold, until the very last count update.
Development/For narrowly missed the 5% threshold, and initially had enough to obtain seats in the Saeima but eventually failed to meet the threshold within the last minute.[521]
The New Right party missed the threshold of 3.25% necessary to obtain seats in the Knesset. Initially, the margin was close enough that absentee votes could affect it;[523] however, after absentee ballots were counted the party remained out of the Knesset, and demanded a recount.[524]
Close elections not only demonstrate the effect of individual voters, they may reflect extra efforts from candidates or supporters when elections are close.[527][528]
From 2007 to 2024, over 800 US elections ended in ties or a margin of one vote.[529]
In the United States in 2018, 88 state legislative elections were decided by less than half a percent.[530]
^There is considerable disagreement among historians about the exact vote totals. As Kenneth Ackerman explained in his 2003 book: "Because (a) voting was decentralized, (b) states certified electoral votes, not popular votes as 'official', and (c) Democratic votes were divided among various splinter groups, there remains today a range of published 'final results' for the 1880 presidential popular vote."[470] The federal government lists the margin of victory as 1,898, which is used in this article.[471] Others give the margin as 7,018;[472][473] 7,368;[474] 9,070;[475] or 9,457[476] among others.
^Barnes, Brooks Miles (1981). "The Congressional Elections of 1882 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 89 (4): 467–486. JSTOR4248516.
^ abGreeley, Horace; Cleveland, John Fitch; Ottarson, F. J.; Schem, Alexander Jacob; McPherson, Edward; Rhoades, Henry Eckford (1868). The Tribune Almanac and Political Register. Tribune Association.
^Titus, James E. (1964). "Kansas Governors: A Resumé of Political Leadership". The Western Political Quarterly. 17 (2): 356–370. doi:10.2307/445714. JSTOR445714.
^ abEdward B. Foley and Mike Shecket (September 7, 2004). "Section 5.3 – Recounts and Other Remedies". The E-Book on Election Law: An Online Reference Guide. Moritz College of Law. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
^Zanzibar Elections Supervisors (1961). Reports of the Supervisors of Elections on the Registration of Voters and the Elections Held in January, 1961. Zanzibar: Government Printer. p. 62.
^Lawrence versus Milligan election contest, third district of Missouri. Hearings before the committee on Elections No. 2, House of Representatives, Seventy-first Congress, second session, April 28, 1930. Washington. 1930. hdl:2027/uiug.30112119650825.
^Ackerman, Kenneth D. (2003). Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of James A. Garfield. New York, New York: Avalon Publishing. p. 220n. ISBN978-0-7867-1396-7.
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