Sometimes one vote does matter

What would happen if they held an election and nobody showed up to vote? According to this article, they had that very situation in Tamarac, Florida.

The city of Tamarac, which is located in Broward County in South Florida, is considering annexing the currently unincorporated neighborhood of Prospect Bend. The neighborhood, with its 200 residents and 68 registered voters, had a special election to vote on the annexation.

Although the Tamarac officials mailed details to the each of the residents, not one single voter actually showed up to cast a ballot on the issue.

If just one voter would have showed up to vote, he or she would have determined the election. According to this article from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, it appears that one reason for the lack of turn-out is the fact that most or all of the neighborhood residents rent apartments and aren't property owners. One registered voter, Juan Vidal, demonstrated this lack of interest when he said, "It doesn't make a difference to me either way."

Although no one actually came to vote, the city was forced to keep a polling place open for 12 hours, with a cost of $2,500 to the taxpayers.

Since no one voted, Tamarac is now going to have to try to find another way to annex the neighborhood.