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 split vote was originally devised by Cao Boi Bui in the episode, but the Aitutaki tribe opted to vote Cao Boi out rather than attempt a risky move that could have eliminated a strong physical competitor. The strategy was not used until the following season,, where the Ravu tribe split a vote between Anthony Robinson and Sylvia Kwan, to eliminate Sylvia.

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 (first attempted in, first succeeded in )
 * Votes against the secondary target – this can only succeed if the splitting alliance has an equal number of people voting for each target (first attempted in, successfully)
 * In seasons where the Extra Vote advantage is in play, it can be used to counter an attempted split vote. To date, no holder of this advantage has used it for this purpose.

Minority Split Vote
A minority split vote is when the minority at a vote decides to split their vote between two targets, knowing that an idol could be played by the majority alliance in response to their idol play that will create a null vote wherein the majority would still have control at the vote restart. The first time the minority alliance intentionally split the votes for this reason was in, when Davie Rickenbacker played his idol on Christian Hubicki, and in response, Dan Rengering played his idol on Angelina Keeley. However, the minority had split their votes between Angelina and John Hennigan in anticipation of Dan playing his idol in response to their idol play. At final tribal council, Nick Wilson revealed that this was his idea and presented it as a reason for why the jury should vote for him.

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. In order to avoid a potential tie, Rita Verreos voted against Earl Cole instead of one of the two intended targets.

The original intent was for the entire alliance to vote for Corinne, as she was the only vulnerable member of the minority Onion Alliance. However, Crystal Cox and Ken Hoang split their votes between Corinne and Matty to ensure that Matty would be voted out instead of another member of the majority if Corinne played an idol.

The primary intent of this vote was to send Matt to, not to counter Kristina's idol. Andrea Boehlke and Phillip Sheppard, the two alliance members who voted for Kristina, were not told that Matt was the primary target.

The original intent was for the entire alliance to split the vote between Vytas and Katie 4-3. However, Monica Culpepper and Laura Morett, members of the alliance who were both assigned to vote against Katie, voted against Vytas instead, making the split 6-1.

The original intent was for the entire alliance to split the vote between Val and Baylor 3-3, with Josh Canfield meant to vote against Baylor. However, Josh switched his vote to Val, making the split 4-2 and ensuring Val could not save herself by voting against Baylor.

The main target was Dale (who had a fake idol) due to him being the outsider of the alliance. However, they chose affiliate Keith as the secondary target, and he did have an idol.

The original intent was for the alliance to split the vote between Keith and Wes 4-3. Alec Christy and Reed Kelly voted against Jon Misch instead (making it 4 votes against Jon), but Jon used his own idol, keeping the split vote successful. Jon received 4 votes that did not count, while Keith received 3 votes that did not count.

The primary target was Keith, with the alliance planning to split the vote between him and Alec 3-2; however, Natalie Anderson switched her vote to Alec. Combined with Keith's own vote for Alec, this resulted in Alec's elimination.

Tai reneged from the Gondol Alliance in order to execute the plan. Also, the primary intent of this vote was to eliminate Scot, not to counter the idols held by Scot and Tai. Julia Sokolowski and Michele Fitzgerald, the two alliance members who voted for Tai, were not told that Scot was the primary target. Tai himself was possibly unaware that he was the secondary target.

The original intent was for the entire alliance to split the vote between Desi and Joe 4-3, with Lauren Rimmer meant to vote against Joe. However, Lauren used her advantage allowing her to abstain from the vote in order to use it at a future Tribal Council to vote twice. Combined with outsiders Cole Medders and Mike Zahalsky also voting for Joe, this resulted in the tie.

The original intent was for the entire alliance to vote for Ben. However, Devon Pinto cast a throwaway vote for Mike to ensure that Mike would be voted out instead of another member of the majority if Ben played an idol. (see: Throwaway Votes)

Kellyn Bechtold cast two votes against Laurel by using her Extra Vote advantage, with the knowledge that Domenick Abbate and Wendell Holland were voting against Michael.

The David Alliance split their votes between John and Angelina 3-2. Davie Rickenbacker played his idol for Christian Hubicki, negating the 7 votes cast against Christian. Dan Rengering then played his idol for Angelina, negating the 2 votes cast against her. John was voted out with 3 votes.

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. The original intent of the split vote was for Tyson to vote against Russell to split the votes 3-3 between Russell and Parvati. However, Tyson voted for Parvati instead, ironically resulting in his own elimination.

Eddie received four votes that did not count, while Malcolm received two votes that did not count.

The original intent of the split vote was for Gervase and Tyson to vote against Laura M. and for Monica to vote against Ciera to split the votes between the two. However, Gervase, Tyson, and Monica sided with the Singles Alliance to vote against Aras instead.

The original intent was to get Kass and Woo to renege from the Solana Alliance, then have Kass and Tasha vote against Trish and Spencer and Woo vote against Tony. Kass and Woo decided however to stay with the Solana Alliance, voting out Tasha instead.

The primary target was Nina, with the tribe planning to split the vote between her and Vince 2-2 but vote Nina out in the revote; however, Will switched his vote to Vince, nullifying the purpose of the split vote (Vince using an idol would not vote out Nina, but would vote out Jenn Brown instead).

Stephen used his Vote Steal advantage to steal Joe's vote and cast an extra vote against Joe.

The original intent was for Debbie and Joe to side with Liz and Peter Baggenstos, splitting the votes 2-2 between Neal and Aubry and voting out Neal in the revote. However, Debbie and Joe sided with Neal and Aubry instead, and they did split the votes between Liz and Peter.

The Goliath Alliance split their votes 3-2 between Christian and Angelina, and Dan used his idol to ensure Christian's elimination. However, due to Carl using the Idol Nullifier on Dan, the plan failed.

Throwaway Votes
Another voting strategy related to the split vote is the throwaway vote. Even before the threat of Hidden Immunity Idols were put in the game, some castaways cast a throwaway vote (usually against their allies if they are in the minority) in order to divert votes against themselves to someone that could likely also get votes. It could also be used as a strategy on seasons with the Past Votes tiebreaker, in order to add votes to a particular castaway when the main target already had enough votes against them, that could be used for future Tribal Councils.

Some throwaway votes, however, are used to prevent the effect of Hidden Immunity Idols, and were usually done impromptu when they vote without a clear plan before doing it.


 * In during, Jim Rice voted against John Cochran to cover the possibility that otherwise unanimous target Mark Caruso may have an idol.
 * In during, Jonathan Penner voted against Abi-Maria Gomes in order to prevent a possible 0-0 tie. Jonathan himself was immune, but one of his allies may have been voted out if the vote ended 0-0.
 * In during, Ciera Eastin and Katie Collins voted against John Cody in case he played an idol for the main target and rumored secret ally Rachel Foulger.
 * On during, Tyler Fredrickson and Will Sims II voted against Dan Foley after immune outsider Mike Holloway threatened the opposing alliance that he would use his idol on his ally Shirin Oskooi during Tribal Council, possibly negating all votes of the majority alliance, so that if it was executed, Dan would be voted out instead of a core member.
 * In during, Devon Pinto voted against Mike Zahalsky to cover the possibility that otherwise unanimous target Ben Driebergen may have an idol. Ben indeed played an idol, resulting in a tie, and Mike was voted out 2-1 over Devon himself at the revote.
 * In during, Alec Merlino and Kara Kay voted against Angelina Keeley both as a contingency plan, and also as an attempt to later curry favor with the David Alliance.

Revote-Less Split Votes
In, the tiebreaker rules were changed to eliminate revotes, altering split vote strategy significantly. With the rules skipping the revote phase, Tribal Council will go straight to a unanimous decision tiebreaker after a tie, where the splitting alliance also must make all the non-tied minority members agree with them in order to eliminate their target, or be subjected to a rock draw. However, with the advantages of forcing a rock draw for the minority alliance being larger than agreeing with the majority (i.e. the targets will be immune on the rock draw due to being part of the tie, and the chance of a non-tied minority member getting the odd rock being very small against the splitting supermajority), a tie in a split vote on these conditions could be seen as disastrous.

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 control 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 consensus vote. 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 become 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 (similar to ), which will surely be the non-idol user minority member.

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

 * According to Cao Boi Bui, the idea of "Plan Voodoo", or split votes, came to him in a dream.
 * Eddie Fox has the record for the most number of times being a target of split votes with four.
 * He also holds the record for the most votes received at split votes (excluding succeeding revotes), with 11 votes received as part of split votes.
 * Jason Siska and Andrea Boehlke are the first male and female castaway, respectively, to be blindsided by a split vote while holding a Hidden Immunity Idol.
 * currently holds the record for the most number of successful split votes in a season with 6. It currently ties with and  for the number of attempted split votes with 6, although only 5 splits were successful in those seasons.
 * currently holds the record for the highest number of failed split vote attempts in a season, with three.
 * Stealth R Us in Caramoan holds the record for the most split votes done in one season by an alliance, with five (four of which were successful). If one counts the original incarnation of the alliance in, the number rises to eight (seven of which were successful).
 * The Fab Five alliance (which started as the Coyopa Pairs Alliance) from San Juan del Sur holds the record for the most number of successful split votes, with five.
 * Erik Reichenbach, Woo Hwang, Jeremy Collins, and Spencer Bledsoe are all tied for the most times reneging on a split vote plan during their Survivor career, with two.
 * Erik is the only person to renege on a split vote plan in two different seasons.