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 Percentage points 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. elections, and one of every 15,000 votes cast in state 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]

Table of close national and state elections

Tied elections

Year	Country / Region	Election	District/Race	Total votes cast for winner	Description
1985		Victorian Legislative Council	Nunawading	54,821	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]
2011		Swiss federal	Ticino	23,979[6]	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.)
1994		National Assembly of Quebec	Saint-Jean	16,536	Incumbent Liberal Michel Charbonneau tied with Parti Québécois candidate Roger Paquin. Consequently, a new vote was held 42 days later, which Paquin won by 532 votes.[10]
1971		Virginia House of Delegates	District 19	16,410	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]
2003		National Assembly of Quebec	Champlain	11,852	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]
2017		Virginia House of Delegates	District 94	11,608	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 was 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.
2010		Massachusetts House of Representatives	6th Worcester district	6,587	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]
1963		House of Commons of Canada	Pontiac—Témiscamingue	6,448	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]
1988		Massachusetts Senate Democratic Primary	Plymouth District	4,543	George F. Buckley and Michael Creedon tied, but Creedon secured the nomination and later the seat.[25]
1996		South Dakota House of Representatives	District 12	4,191	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).
1999		Nova Scotia House of Assembly	Shelburne	3,206	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]
1886		House of Commons of the United Kingdom	Ashton-under-Lyne	3,049	Conservative incumbent John Edmund Wentworth Addison and Liberal challenger (and English cricketer[31]) Alexander Butler Rowley were tied, 3,049–3,049. The Returning Officer (and also mayor[32][33][34]) James Walker[35] broke the tie by casting a vote for Addison.[36][37][38][39]
1978		Rhode Island Senate	Senatorial District 29	4,110	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]
1980		New Hampshire Senate Republican Primary	District 16	2,438	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.
1958		Alaska Senate	District B	1,953	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]
1994		Wyoming House of Representatives	District 21	1,941	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]
1826		United States House of Representatives	Pennsylvania's 2nd District	1,597	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]
2006		Alaska House of Representatives Democratic Primary	District 37	1,534	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]
1887		House of Commons of Canada	Joliette	1,532	Conservative Édouard Guilbault tied Liberal F. Neveu, but won the seat after the deciding vote was cast by the returning officer.[48]
1896		House of Commons of Canada	Assiniboia West	1,502	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.[49]
2015		Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island	Vernon River-Stratford	1,173	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.[50][51][52][53][54]
2022		New Hampshire House of Representatives	Strafford District 8	970	The November 2022 election to this seat in the city of Rochester ended in a tie of 970-970 between Democrat Chuck 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.[55] In the end, Chuck Grassie won with over 55% of the vote, a 4% over-performance for Democrats.[56][57]

List of close election results in single-winner, majoritarian and STV races

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Year	Country / Region	Election	District/Race	Margin (%)	Margin (votes)	Total votes cast for winner	Description
1974		United States Senate	New Hampshire	0.000901%	2	110,926[58]	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 Noris 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.[59]
1839		Massachusetts gubernatorial	Governor of Massachusetts	0.00098%	1	51,034[60]	Marcus Morton and the incumbent Whig Edward 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."[61]
2020		United States House of Representatives	Iowa's 2nd District	0.00152%	6	196,964	In the House election, Democrat Rita Hart lost by only 6 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 6 votes. Hart chose not to appeal the election in the "contest court", arguing that Iowa law didn't allow enough time as from the November 30 certification date, the court would've had only 8 days to organize and then carry out the recount.[62] 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.[63] 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 wouldn't vote to change the result, Hart withdrew her contest.[64] It was the 2nd closest House race in US history and the closest since 1824.
1984		United States House of Representatives	Indiana's 8th District	0.00171%	4	116,645	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.[65] 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.[66] 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.[67] 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.[68][69]
2013		Australian Senate	Western Australia	0.002125%	1	23,532[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.[71]
2023		Caddo Parish sheriff	Sheriff of Caddo Parish	0.002312%	1	21,624	In the runoff election, Henry Whitehorn, a Democrat, defeated Republican John Nickelson by one vote. After a court challenge, the election was reran; Whitehorn won again with a larger margin.[72]
1910		United States House of Representatives	New York's 36th District	0.00242%	1	20,685	Charles Bennett Smith, a Democrat, defeated the incumbent, Representative De Alva S. Alexander, a Republican, by one vote, 20,685 to 20,684.[73]
1988		Massachusetts Governor's Council Democratic Primary	3rd District	0.00340%	1	14,716	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 wasn't able to vote. Kennedy won the following general.[74][75]
2003		Russian legislative	Sverdlovsk Oblast District 163	0.00342%	5	73,083	Incumbent Georgy Leontyev held the seat by five votes,[76] despite allegations of vote manipulations, later rejected by the Supreme Court [77]
1919		Australian House of Representatives	Ballarat	0.00369%	1	13,569	Edwin Kerby defeated incumbent MP Charles McGrath by a single vote. The result was voided by the Court of Disputed Returns, which criticised the "almost incredible carelessness" of the electoral officers. McGrath won the subsequent by-election.[78]
1997		United Kingdom general	Winchester	0.00383%	2	26,100	In the General Election, Mark Oaten led Gerry Malone by 2 votes (26,100–26,098).[79] 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.[80] In the subsequent by-election, Oaten easily beat Malone (37,006–15,450).
1992		Philippine Senate	At-large	0.00398%	966	3,964,966	The Philippine Senate is elected via multiple non-transferable vote. The 24th placed candidate, Butz Aquino of LDP, edged out Alfredo Bengzon of Lakas to win out the last Senate seat.
1882		United States House of Representatives	Virginia's 1st District	0.00476%	1	10,505	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).[81] 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.[82]
1868		United States House of Representatives	North Carolina's 7th District	0.004841%	1	10,329	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.[83][84][85][86][87]
2004		Washington gubernatorial	Governor of Washington	0.004842%	133	1,373,361[88]	Democrat Christine Gregoire defeated Republican Dino Rossi, following two recounts, after the initial count and first recount showed Rossi as the winner.
2024		Indian general	Mumbai North West	0.00503%	48	452,644	Ravindra Waikar (Shiv Sena) won with a 48-vote-lead against Amol Gajanan Kirtikar (Shiv Sena (UBT)).[89]
2024		Budapest local	Mayor of Budapest	0.00524%	41	371,578	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.[90][91]
1931		United Kingdom general	Ilkeston	0.00569%	2	17,587	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.[92]
2002		Irish general	Limerick West	0.00584%	1	8,564[93][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."[95][96]
1854		United States House of Representatives	Illinois' 7th District	0.00592%	1	8,452	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.[97][98] A special election in 1856 was a rematch between Allen and Archer, and Allen soundly defeated Archer 13,081–10,136.[99]
2000		South Korean legislature	Gwangju	0.00614%	3	16,675	GNP Park Hyuk-kyu defeated MDP Moon Hak-jin by an official tally of 3-vote difference.[100]
1966		United Kingdom general	Peterborough	0.00626%	3	23,944	Conservative Party incumbent Sir Harmar Nicholls defeated Labour Party challenger Michael Ward 23,944–23,941. Ward would again challenge and lose in 1970 and Feb 1974, but would win in Oct 1974.
1847		United States House of Representatives	Indiana's 6th District	0.0067%	1	7,455	Whig George G. Dunn defeated Democrat David M. Dobson 7,455–7,454.[101]
2017		United Kingdom general	North East Fife	0.00727%	2	13,743	Stephen Gethins of the Scottish National Party saw off a challenge by Elizabeth Riches of the Liberal Democrats to retain the seat of former leader Menzies Campbell.[102]
1962		Minnesota gubernatorial	Governor of Minnesota	0.00734%	91	619,842	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.[103] 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.
2020		North Carolina Judicial	Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court	0.00744%	401	2,695,951	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.[104]
1916		United States House of Representatives	Iowa's 11th District	0.00768%	4	26,033	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.[105]
1991		Virginia House of Delegates	District 53	0.00770%	1	6,493	After a recount, Jim Scott won by a single vote, earning him the nickname "Landslide Jim".[106]
2018