List of narrow elections

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This is a list of narrow elections at national and state level that have been decided by a margin of less than 1 vote in 1000 (a margin of victory of less than 0.1%). One will notice the large number of close results in Canada's Federal Parliamentary elections. This is largely due to the way that Canadian Ridings are structured and allocated. Canadian Ridings are set by an independent commission based on the current formula of 279 seats, with some other variables in structuring what are formally know as the "electoral districts", making Ridings often unusually balanced in political affiliation. This is one (but obviously not the only) factor that accounts for the unusual number of election results that have produced a variance of less than 0.1% between the winner and loser in those elections.

Race	Margin (Percentage)	Margin (Votes)	Total Votes Cast	Description
Saint-Jean; Quebec general election, 1994	0%	0	38,894	Incumbent Liberal Michel Charbonneau tied with Parti québécois candidate Roger Paquin. Consequently, a by-election was held 42 days later, which Paquin narrowly won.[1]
Champlain; Quebec general election, 2003	0%	0	33,919	PQ candidate Noëlla Champagne tied with Liberal Pierre Brouillette. Consequently, a by-election was held 36 days later, which Champagne narrowly won.[2]
Pontiac—Témiscamingue; Canadian federal election, 1963	0%	0	16,587	Progressive Conservative incumbent Paul Martineau defeated Liberal Paul-Oliva Goulet. A deciding vote was cast by the returning officer after the two candidates tied.[3]
Ashton-under-Lyne; UK general election, 1886	0%	0	6,099	The vote was tied, so under the law of the day, the returning officer was given a casting vote.[4]
Shelburne; Nova Scotia general election, 1999	0%	0	3,206	Progressive Conservative Cecil O'Donnell defeated Liberal Clifford Huskilson. The deciding vote was cast by the returning officer after the two candidates tied.
Joliette; Canadian federal election, 1887	0%	0	3,065	Conservative Édouard Guilbault defeated Liberal F. Neveu. The deciding vote was cast by the returning officer after the two candidates tied.[5]
Assiniboia West; Canadian federal election, 1896	0%	0	3,005	Conservative Nicholas Flood Davin defeated independent John K. McInnes. The deciding vote was cast by the returning officer after the two candidates tied.[6]
United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 1974	0.00090%	2	223,363	Louis Wyman beat John A. Durkin after several recounts. The US Senate called for a re-vote, which Durkin won.[7]
Indiana's 8th congressional district, 1984	0.00171%	4	233,286	Indiana's Secretary of State (a Republican) certified Rick McIntyre as the winner by 34 votes, ignoring other recounted tallies that actually showed Frank McCloskey was in the lead. The Democratic-controlled House conducted their own recount. The House seated McCloskey after declaring him the winner by just four votes.[citation needed]
Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1839	0.00195%	2	102,066	Marcus Morton won the governorship by only two votes.[citation needed]
Winchester, UK general election, 1997	0.00322%	2	62,054	Mark Oaten gained the seat from the Conservatives (the result was later annulled and Oaten won by 21,000 votes in the subsequent by-election). This was the smallest percentage majority and the joint smallest numerical majority, in a UK Parliamentary election, since universal adult suffrage.
Washington gubernatorial election, 2004	0.00473%	133	2,810,058	Democrat Christine Gregoire defeated Republican Dino Rossi, following two recounts, after the initial count and first recount showed Rossi as the winner.[citation needed]
Ilkeston, UK general election, 1931	0.00569%	2	35,172	A.J. Flint (National Labour) gained the seat from George Oliver (Labour) in a straight fight (the joint smallest numerical majority in a UK Parliamentary election, since universal adult suffrage).[8]
United States presidential election in Florida, 2000 electoral votes	0.00901%	537	5,962,657	Florida's electoral votes decided George W. Bush's electoral college win over Al Gore. President Bush lost the national popular vote.
Ontario; Canadian federal election, 1972	0.00949%	4	42,150	Liberal incumbent Norman Cafik defeated Progressive Conservative Frank Charles McGee.[9]
Alaska House of Representatives District 7, 2008	0.00997% (prelimiary)	1 (preliminary)	10,035 (preliminary)	Incumbent Republican Mike Kelly defeated Democratic challenger Karl Kassel by one vote following a recount.[10]
Exeter, UK general election, December 1910	0.01047%	1	9,553	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 4 votes). The revised result was the smallest numerical majority in a UK Parliamentary election, in the twentieth century.[11]
United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008	0.0108%	312	2,887,646	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. [12] 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.[13]
Connecticut's 2nd congressional district, 1994	0.01129%	21	186,071	After two recounts, Sam Gejdenson had 21 more votes than Edward Munster.[citation needed]
Leeds; Canadian federal election, 1968	0.01376%	4	29,073	Progressive Conservative Desmond Code defeated Liberal incumbent John Matheson.[14]
Yamaska; Canadian federal election, 1930	0.01427%	1	7,009	Liberal incumbent Aimé Boucher defeated Conservative Paul-François Comtois.[15] The riding result was later declared void, and Boucher won the by-election in 1933 by 84 votes (0.1%).
Annapolis—Kings; Canadian federal election, 1949	0.01515%	4	26,400	Liberal Angus Alexander Elderkin defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent George Nowlan.[16]
Somaliland presidential election, 2003	0.01637%	80	488,543	Dahir Riyale Kahin, of the For Unity, Democracy, and Independence party narrowly defeated the Peace, Unity, and Development Party's Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo in a three-way race.[17]
London—Middlesex; Canadian federal election, 1988	0.01654%	8	48,358	Progressive Conservative MP Terry Clifford narrowly edged out Liberal Garnet Bloomfield.[18]
Attorney General of Virginia election, 2005	0.01662%	323	1,943,250	Bob McDonnell was certified as the victor over Creigh Deeds following a recount.[19]
Oklahoma state elections, 2006	0.020846 %	2	9,594	After a recount Republican Todd Thomsen beat Democrat Gail Parker by two votes for the Oklahoma House of Representatives seat in its 25th district.[20][21][22]
Vancouver—Burrard; Canadian federal election, 1935	0.02133%	6	28,130	Liberal Gerald Grattan McGeer defeated Co-operative Commonwealth Arnold Alexander Webster.[23]
Ontario North; Canadian federal election, 1896	0.02148%	1	4,655	Liberal-Conservative John Alexander McGillivray defeated Patrons of Industry Duncan Graham.[6]
Selkirk; Canadian federal election, 1900	0.02303%	1	4,343	Liberal William Forsythe McCreary defeated Conservative John Herber Haslam.[24] This was the second time in a row that a Liberal candidate defeated his Conservative rival in this riding by a single vote.
Bruce North; Canadian federal election, 1900	0.02422%	1	4,129	Liberal-Conservative incumbent Alexander McNeill defeated Liberal J. E. Campbell.[24]
Norfolk—Elgin; Canadian federal election, 1930	0.02654%	5	18,843	Liberal William H. Taylor defeated Conservative John Lawrence Stansell.[15]
Division of McEwen; Australian federal election, 2007	0.02794%	31	96,647	Liberal Fran Bailey defeated Labor Rob Mitchell following a recount and court challenge.[25][26]
Kitchener—Waterloo; Canadian federal election, 2008	0.02808%	17	60,534	Conservative Peter Braid defeated Liberal Andrew Telegdi after a recount.[27]
Wentworth South; Canadian federal election, 1891	0.02821%	1	3,545	Conservative Franklin Carpenter defeated Liberal James T. Russell.[28]
Souris; Canadian federal election, 1935	0.02833%	3	10,589	Liberal-Progressive George William McDonald defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Errick French Willis.[23]
Haldimand; Canadian federal election, 1887	0.02865%	1	3,491	Conservative Walter Humphries Montague defeated Liberal incumbent Charles Wesley Coulter.[5]
Selkirk; Canadian federal election, 1896	0.02920%	1	3,425	Liberal John Alexander MacDonell defeated Conservative Hugh Armstrong.[6]
Comox—Alberni; Canadian federal election, 1968	0.02967%	9	30,331	Liberal Richard Durante defeated New Democrat incumbent Thomas Speakman Barnett.[14] The riding result was later declared void and Durante lost the by-election to Barnett in 1969.
Nicolet; Canadian federal election, 1891	0.03016%	1	3,316	Liberal Joseph Hector Leduc defeated Conservative E. C. Prince.[28]
Colchester—Hants; Canadian federal election, 1945	0.03273%	8	24,439	Progressive Conservative Frank Stanfield defeated Liberal incumbent Gordon Timlin Purdy.[29]
Oshawa—Whitby; Canadian federal election, 1968	0.03309%	15	45,332	New Democrat Ed Broadbent defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Michael Starr.[14]
Champlain; Canadian federal election, 2000	0.03325%	15	45,111	Bloc Quebecois candidate Marcel Gagnon narrowly edged out Liberal Julie Boulet.[30]
Edmonton Northwest; Canadian federal election, 1993	0.03410%	12	35,195	Liberal candidate Anne McLellan narrowly edged out Reform candidate Richard Kayler.[31]
Drummond; Canadian federal election, 1974	0.03521%	13	36,925	Liberal Yvon Pinard defeated Social Credit incumbent Jean-Marie Boisvert.[32]
Halifax; Canadian federal election, 1979	0.03662%	15	40,961	Progressive Conservative George Cooper defeated Liberal Brian Flemming.[33]
York East; Canadian federal election, 1896	0.03841%	1	3,425	Independent Conservative incumbent William F. McLean defeated Liberal Henry R. Frankland.[6]
Montana House of Representatives district 12 election, 2004	0.04735%	2	4,224	Democrat Jeanne Windham defeated Constitution Party candidate Rick Jore.[citation needed]
Vancouver South; Canadian federal election, 2008	0.04779%	20	41,852	Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh defeated Conservative Wai Young after two recounts.[34]
Montmorency; Canadian federal election, 1887	0.05328%	1	1,877	Liberal Charles Langelier defeated Conservative P. V. Valin.[5]
Parry Sound—Muskoka; Canadian federal election, 2006	0.06064%	28	46,171	Conservative candidate Tony Clement narrowly edged out Liberal MP Andy Mitchell.[35]
U.S. presidential election, 2000, New Mexico electoral votes	0.06114%	366	598,605	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 than the Florida result.[36]
Northumberland; Canadian federal election, 1988	0.06190%	28	45,235	Liberal candidate Christine Stewart narrowly edged out Progressive Conservative Reg Jewell.[18]
Grey South; Canadian federal election, 1891	0.06572%	3	4,565	Liberal incumbent George Landerkin defeated Conservative John Blyth.[28]
Italian general election, 2006	0.06583%	25,115	38,153,343	L'Unione (centre-left) defeated la Casa delle Libertà (conservative)[citation needed]
Selkirk; Canadian federal election, 1972	0.06690%	30	44,841	New Democrat incumbent Doug Rowland defeated Progressive Conservative Dean Whiteway.[9]
Cumberland; Canadian federal election, 1940	0.06842%	12	17,537	Liberal Percy Chapman Black defeated National Government incumbent Kenneth Judson Cochrane.[37]
Colorado 7th Congressional district election, 2002	0.06877%	121	175,938	In the first race in this newly-created Congressional district, Republican Bob Beauprez narrowly beat out Democrat Mike Feeley.[38]
North Carolina State Agriculture Commissioner election, 2004	0.07066%	2,353	3,330,187	Republican Steve Troxler defeated Democrat Britt Cobb.[citation needed]
Laval Centre; Canadian federal election, 2000	0.07667%	42	54,782	Bloc Quebecois MP Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral narrowly edged out Liberal Pierre Lafleur.[30]
York North; Canadian federal election, 1988	0.08767%	77	87,825	Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua narrowly edged out Progressive Conservative Michael O'Brien.[18]
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke; Canadian federal election, 1984	0.08792%	38	43,219	Liberal MP Len Hopkins narrowly edged out Progressive Conservative Don Whillans.[39]
Crawley constituency; United Kingdom general election, 2005	0.08815%	37	41,973	Labour MP Laura Moffatt retains seat.
Washington United States Senate election, 2000	0.09055%	2,229	2,461,379	Democrat Maria Cantwell unseats Republican Slade Gorton, following a mandatory recount.[citation needed]
Shefford (electoral district); Canadian federal election, 1965	0.09334%	27	28,926	Liberal Louis-Paul Neveu defeated Progressive Conservative Paul-O. Trépanier.[40]
Leeds South; Canadian federal election, 1874	0.09372%	3	3,201	Conservative David Ford Jones beat challenger W. H. Fredenburgh.[41]
St. John's West; Canadian federal election, 1962	0.09391%	24	25,557	Liberal Richard Cashin defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent William Joseph Browne.[42]
U.S. presidential election, 1884, New York electoral votes	0.09844 %	1,149	1,167,169	Democrat Grover Cleveland edged out James G. Blaine to win New York's decisive 36 electoral votes.[citation needed]
Jacques Cartier; Canadian federal election, 1878	0.09911%	2	2,018	Conservative Désiré Girouard defeated Liberal incumbent Rodolphe Laflamme.[43]
Calgary West; Canadian federal election, 1921	0.09955%	16	16,073	Labour Joseph Tweed Shaw defeated Conservative R. B. Bennett who was, at the time, Minister of Justice.[44]

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