Complex sentence: Fans had never accepted Todd, and rather than modify his character, DC opted to let them vote on his fate at the Joker's hands; a 28 vote margin saw the Joker beat Todd to death with a crowbar.
Split into simpler sentences: Fans had never accepted Todd, and rather than modify his character, DC opted to let them vote on his fate at the Joker's hands. By a 28-vote margin, they voted to let him die, and in the following issue the Joker beat Todd to death with a crowbar.