How Important is One Vote?

• In 1645 ONE VOTE gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
  
  
• In 1649 ONE VOTE caused Charles I of England to be executed.
  
  
• In 1776 ONE VOTE gave America the English language instead of German.
  
  
• In 1800 ONE VOTE in the Electoral College gave Thomas Jefferson the Presidency over Aaron Burr.
  
  
• In 1839 ONE VOTE elected Marcus Morton Governor of Massachusetts.
  
  
• In 1845 ONE VOTE brought Texas into the Union.
  
  
• In 1868 ONE VOTE saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
  
  
• In 1876 ONE VOTE gave Rutherford D. Hayes the Presidency of the United States.
  
  
• In 1876 ONE VOTE changed France from a Monarchy to a Republic.
  
  
• In 1916 ONE VOTE won Woodrow Wilson the Presidency by carrying California by less than one vote per precinct.
  
  
• In 1923 ONE VOTE gave Adolph Hitler leadership of the Nazi Party.
  
  
• In 1948 ONE VOTE gave Harry Truman the Presidency by carrying California by less than one vote per precinct.
  
  
• In 1960 ONE VOTE per precinct in Illinois would have given Richard Nixon the Presidency over John Kennedy.

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• In California in 1974, Jerry Brown won the race for governor over Houston Flournoy by a margin of fewer than eight votes per precinct.

• In California in 1982 George Deukmejian won the race for governor over Tom Bradley by a margin smaller than four votes per precinct.

• In Texas in 1985 Jim Chapman won the First U.S. Congressional District race over Ed Hargett by fewer than five votes per precinct.

• In 1984 Santa Clara County Supervisor Dianne McKenna beat her opponent, Betsy Bechtel, by a margin of fewer than 7 votes per precinct. The margin was smaller than the number of absentee ballots cast.

• In 1973, Sally Ann Knab and James Hardy had to draw straws because of a tie vote in their race for La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District.

• In 1981, in a school district election in Belmont, winner Chon Gutierrez and his opponent Stanley Langland also received the same number of votes and had to draw straws to determine the winner.

• In 1983, East Palo Alto was incorporated by a vote of 1782 to 1767 - a margin of 15 votes. This election was challenged and taken before the Supreme Court of the State of California.