Split Vote

A **Split Vote** is a strategy employed in *Survivor* by alliances at Tribal Council, in an attempt to avoid one of their own being voted out by the use of a Hidden Immunity Idol. The strategy involves the alliance(s) casting an equal or near-equal number of votes on two different members of an opposing alliance or individual targets, theoretically ensuring that one of them is voted out regardless of whom the idol is played on. In order for the split vote to work, the alliance must control two-thirds of the votes at Tribal Council.

The first split vote ever was done by The Doomsday Patrol to counteract a potential Hidden Immunity Idol use by The Prophets of Willard. The alliance used this strategy to target Aren and Zach due to the later already using a Idol earlier in the season. Ultimately, Aren was eliminated in the revote.

## Split Vote Strategy

Any alliance with the numbers to do so can hypothetically split votes successfully; however, the strategy is not used unless there is a reason to suspect one of the targets has an idol.

The split vote is a risky strategy because it makes it easier for a supposed alliance member to renege from the alliance and vote out a loyal member. If there are an unequal number of people voting for each side of the split, care must be taken to lessen the impact of a single "flip" against the alliance.

### Countering the Split Vote

The primary target of a split vote may still be able to survive the Tribal Council, resulting in the secondary target being voted out:

* Uses a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating all votes against them
* Votes against the secondary target – this can only succeed if the splitting alliance has an equal number of people voting for each target
* Playing a different advantage such as the Vunuaai

## List of Split Vote Attempts

### Successful Split Votes

This list compiles successful split votes.

For a split vote to qualify as successful, one of the two targets must be voted out (after a revote if necessary) regardless of which target plays the idol. If the targeted alliance has two idols, a split vote can be unsuccessful even with this guideline. It is not required that every member of the splitting alliance be aware of the identity of the primary target.

**^1** Jacob W. was going to be voted out in the revote, however Katie quit feeling guilty about Jacob using his idol on her dooming himself.

**^2** Although one of the targets was eliminated, due to Issy forgetting to vote, Adrian was eliminated by mistake.

### Failed Split Votes

This list includes Tribal Councils where the split voting alliance(s) actually attempted the split, but failed due to some members of the alliance reneging, if all members of the opposing alliance are immune (therefore losing one of their own or someone not from the target alliance) and/or splits that didn't ensure that one of the targets would be eliminated if an idol was used on one of them. This does not include proposed splits the tribe as a whole did not intend to follow through with.

### Countering the split vote

Another new counter to the split vote with these rules, is having the minority forcing a tie by knowing how the split vote will go. A non-tied minority member could object the majority's decision, forcing a rock draw in which the odds of having a majority member be eliminated be quite bigger than a minority member. The worst case for the splitting alliance is having all members of the minority be exempted from the rock draw, which is possible if one of them has immunity and the rest are part of the tie. It creates a scenario where the immune minority member has no risk in forcing a rock draw, ironically keeping the minority intact after the tiebreaker.

### Making a split vote

In general, the primary target must have at least twice the number of minority votes plus one, blocking a tie between the two targets. Then, the secondary target must have more votes than the number of minority members, blocking a successful idol play from resulting in a tie vote. With this, the splitting alliance, instead of the typical two-thirds, will need at least three-fourths supermajority plus two more to resolve a vote without a tiebreaker. Simply, the split can be done as such:

*((2 x no. of minority members) + 1), (no. of minority members + 1), (no. of minority members)*

Ex. A 9-5-4 split is possible against a 4-person minority.

Arguably, the best moment to split votes is when a minority alliance only has two members left. Because they can only vote against each other, it ensures that a unanimous decision can be made between only the members of the splitting alliance, as only the ones not part of the tie (i.e. the two minority members in this scenario) could have a participation in the decision, creating a lockdown. A tie between the targets will still likely ensure majority safety. At least six votes are needed however, as it is always required to have the secondary target outnumber the minority votes. A 3-2-2 or 2-2-2 split is not sufficient, as an idol may create a 2-2-0 vote at which both members of the minority are immune from the rock draw.

### Strategy for ties

While the odds of a minority member surviving a rock draw after a split vote is quite large, it is possible to strategize around it on the unanimous decision. The splitting alliance may target members of the minority alliance who are seen as less fearful in drawing a rock, leaving those they perceived who are vulnerable if a tie happens. The splitting alliance may try to convince the deciding member(s) that they still can be eliminated by the rock draw even by chance, in order to force that castaway to play it safe and vote with the majority to guarantee safety.

### Self-targeted split vote

While splits target members of a minority group, the tie rules of the rock draw could be exploited so that members of the majority becomes immune by splitting the votes between members **within** the alliance. It is however risky, and that the majority alliance must know what is the minority group's target, or risk having one of their own be voted out accidentally.

An example of it is in a 2-2-2 split. Because the new rules nullify a normal split vote with this split, the more viable strategy seems to be a successful 4-2 vote. However, by taking advantage of the new rule, the majority can make a lockdown as long as they have an idol. The splitting alliance can create a 3-3 tie, placing 1 vote against the target of the minority, then placing 3 votes on one of their own members that is **not** the target of the minority, while the non-targeted member will then use an idol. The majority members that are going to be part of the decision then decides to force rocks. Assuming a minority member did use an idol, the outcome will have all but one castaway be eligible to draw rocks.

Another strategy is during the final five, in a 3 vs. 2 scenario, if a member of the majority alliance has a form of individual immunity. While normally players cannot split votes on this scenario, the majority can put 2 votes on a majority member that is not the target of the minority and 1 vote against someone from the minority. It creates a 2-2-1 split that makes all three members of the majority immune from the rock draw, so that an idol use by the minority on their own will still ensure a minority member going home.

## Trivia

* *Survivor: Zambia* is currently the only season where 2 alliances have attempted opposing split votes.