REPORT: 570 American Elections (and Counting) Ended in Ties, Close Results  

Published On: October 24th, 2022

Here is why every vote counts… every single one.

(Alexandria, VA.) – October 24, 2022: Today, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) released a report detailing an astonishing 466 elections that ended in a tie. For good measure, the report catalogs an additional 102 elections that were decided by less than 30 votes. The Foundation will continue to track and update elections that end in close results.

This matters because these 466 elections were decided by a single vote – whether a legal or illegal vote.

States have different procedures for how to handle tie elections. These procedures include a lottery, coin toss, and runoff elections. One of these tie races that was decided by lottery determined whether Democrats or Republicans would control the Virginia House.

“Small things matter in close elections,” said PILF President, J. Christian Adams. “Ties happen. Illegal votes, mistakes, and errors shouldn’t determine the winner. This is proof that one vote matters.”

Read the full report here.

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Public Interest Legal Foundation