"Splitting the Vote" implies that an outsider applicant comes in and strips away votes from some hopeful of the real gatherings. It can have a major effect in a nearby race, and a standard hopeful loses (or wins) when the greater part ordinarily would have chosen the other one.
It can be important since it makes a big difference in a close race, and a mainstream candidate loses (or wins) when the majority normally would have elected the other one.
The stanza in Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken' that most supports the theme that sometimes human beings feel conflict because they cannot have everything they desire is STANZA 1, as it's the one that speaks of the sorrow he feels for not being able to take both roads.
