diff --git a/dbutils.c b/dbutils.c
index df833014..8fcba31f 100644
--- a/dbutils.c
+++ b/dbutils.c
@@ -2622,7 +2622,8 @@ get_voting_status(PGconn *conn)
 	return voting_status;
 }
 
-int
+
+VoteRequestResult
 request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int electoral_term)
 {
 	PQExpBufferData	  query;
@@ -2648,8 +2649,36 @@ request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int
 	/* check for NULL */
 	if (PQgetisnull(res, 0, 0))
 	{
-		log_debug("XXX NULL returned by repmgr.request_vote()");
-		return 0;
+		PQclear(res);
+
+		log_debug("NULL returned by repmgr.request_vote()");
+
+		/*
+		 * get the node's last receive location anyway
+		 * TODO: have repmgr.request_vote() return two values
+		 */
+
+		initPQExpBuffer(&query);
+
+		appendPQExpBuffer(
+			&query,
+#if (PG_VERSION_NUM >= 100000)
+			"SELECT pg_catalog.pg_last_wal_receive_lsn()");
+#else
+			"SELECT pg_catalog.pg_last_xlog_receive_location()");
+#endif
+
+		res = PQexec(conn, query.data);
+		termPQExpBuffer(&query);
+
+		if (PQresultStatus(res) == PGRES_TUPLES_OK)
+		{
+			other_node->last_wal_receive_lsn = parse_lsn(PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0));
+		}
+
+		PQclear(res);
+
+		return VR_VOTE_REFUSED;
 	}
 
 	other_node->last_wal_receive_lsn = parse_lsn(PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0));
@@ -2664,7 +2693,7 @@ request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int
 	if (lsn_diff > 0)
 	{
 		log_debug("local node is ahead");
-		return 1;
+		return VR_POSITIVE_VOTE;
 	}
 
 
@@ -2672,7 +2701,7 @@ request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int
 	if (lsn_diff < 0)
 	{
 		log_debug("other node is ahead");
-		return 0;
+		return VR_NEGATIVE_VOTE;
 	}
 
 	/* tiebreak */
@@ -2681,12 +2710,12 @@ request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int
 	if (this_node->priority < other_node->priority)
 	{
 		log_debug("other node has higher priority");
-		return 0;
+		return VR_NEGATIVE_VOTE;
 	}
 
 	/* still tiebreak - we're the candidate, so we win */
 	log_debug("win by default");
-	return 1;
+	return VR_POSITIVE_VOTE;
 
 }
 
diff --git a/dbutils.h b/dbutils.h
index 380ab83b..533ce75e 100644
--- a/dbutils.h
+++ b/dbutils.h
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ typedef enum {
 	NODE_STATUS_DOWN
 } NodeStatus;
 
+typedef enum {
+	VR_VOTE_REFUSED = -1,
+	VR_POSITIVE_VOTE,
+	VR_NEGATIVE_VOTE
+} VoteRequestResult;
+
 /*
  * Struct to store node information
  */
@@ -310,7 +316,7 @@ bool		is_server_available(const char *conninfo);
 
 /* node voting functions */
 NodeVotingStatus get_voting_status(PGconn *conn);
-int		 		 request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int electoral_term);
+VoteRequestResult request_vote(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int electoral_term);
 int		 		 set_voting_status_initiated(PGconn *conn);
 bool		 	 announce_candidature(PGconn *conn, t_node_info *this_node, t_node_info *other_node, int electoral_term);
 void		 	 notify_follow_primary(PGconn *conn, int primary_node_id);
diff --git a/repmgr.c b/repmgr.c
index 867d40e7..697f178a 100644
--- a/repmgr.c
+++ b/repmgr.c
@@ -206,13 +206,11 @@ request_vote(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 	initStringInfo(&query);
 
-#if (PG_VERSION_NUM >= 100000)
 	appendStringInfo(
 		&query,
+#if (PG_VERSION_NUM >= 100000)
 		"SELECT pg_catalog.pg_last_wal_receive_lsn()");
 #else
-	appendStringInfo(
-		&query,
 		"SELECT pg_catalog.pg_last_xlog_receive_location()");
 #endif
 
diff --git a/repmgrd-physical.c b/repmgrd-physical.c
index f8b2463c..7fcd7be6 100644
--- a/repmgrd-physical.c
+++ b/repmgrd-physical.c
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ do_primary_failover(void)
 	/* attempt to initiate voting process */
 	ElectionResult election_result = do_election();
 
-	/* XXX add pre-event notification here */
+	/* TODO add pre-event notification here */
 	failover_state = FAILOVER_STATE_UNKNOWN;
 
 	log_debug("election result: %s", _print_election_result(election_result));
@@ -702,13 +702,7 @@ do_primary_failover(void)
 
 		log_info(_("I am the candidate but did not get all votes; will now determine the best candidate"));
 
-
-		/* reset node list */
-		get_active_sibling_node_records(local_conn,
-										local_node_info.node_id,
-										upstream_node_info.node_id,
-										&standby_nodes);
-
+		/* standby_nodes is in the state created by do_election() */
 		best_candidate = poll_best_candidate(&standby_nodes);
 
 		/*
@@ -1220,12 +1214,14 @@ poll_best_candidate(NodeInfoList *standby_nodes)
 	NodeInfoListCell *cell;
 	t_node_info *best_candidate = &local_node_info;
 
-	// XXX ensure standby_nodes is set correctly
 
 	/*
 	 * we need to definitively decide the best candidate, as in some corner
 	 * cases we could end up with two candidate nodes, so they should each
-	 * come to the same conclusion
+	 * come to the same conclusion.
+	 *
+	 * XXX check there are no cases where the standby node's LSN is
+	 * not set
 	 */
 	for (cell = standby_nodes->head; cell; cell = cell->next)
 	{
@@ -1248,9 +1244,17 @@ poll_best_candidate(NodeInfoList *standby_nodes)
 			log_debug("node %i has lower node_id, now best candidate", cell->node_info->node_id);
 			best_candidate = cell->node_info;
 		}
+
+		if (cell->node_info->conn != NULL && PQstatus(upstream_conn) == CONNECTION_OK)
+		{
+			PQfinish(cell->node_info->conn);
+			cell->node_info->conn = NULL;
+		}
 	}
 
-	log_info(_("best candidate is %i"), best_candidate->node_id);
+	log_info(_("best candidate is node %s (node ID: %i)"),
+			 best_candidate->node_name,
+			 best_candidate->node_id);
 
 	return best_candidate;
 }
@@ -1653,23 +1657,51 @@ do_election(void)
 
 	for (cell = standby_nodes.head; cell; cell = cell->next)
 	{
+		VoteRequestResult vote_result;
+
 		log_debug("checking node %i...", cell->node_info->node_id);
 		/* ignore unreachable nodes */
 		if (cell->node_info->node_status != NODE_STATUS_UP)
 			continue;
 
-		votes_for_me += request_vote(cell->node_info->conn,
-									 &local_node_info,
-									 cell->node_info,
-									 electoral_term);
+		vote_result = request_vote(cell->node_info->conn,
+								   &local_node_info,
+								   cell->node_info,
+								   electoral_term);
+
+		switch (vote_result)
+		{
+			case VR_VOTE_REFUSED:
+				if (cell->node_info->node_id < local_node_info.node_id)
+				{
+					log_debug(_("node %i refused vote, their ID is lower, yielding"),
+							  cell->node_info->node_id);
+					PQfinish(cell->node_info->conn);
+					cell->node_info->conn = NULL;
+					clear_node_info_list(&standby_nodes);
+
+					reset_node_voting_status();
+					log_debug("other node is candidate, returning NOT CANDIDATE");
+					return ELECTION_NOT_CANDIDATE;
+				}
+
+				log_debug(_("no vote recevied from %i, our ID is lower, not yielding"),
+						  cell->node_info->node_id);
+				break;
+
+			case VR_POSITIVE_VOTE:
+				votes_for_me += 1;
+				break;
+			case VR_NEGATIVE_VOTE:
+				break;
+		}
 
 		if (cell->node_info->last_wal_receive_lsn > local_node_info.last_wal_receive_lsn)
 		{
 			/* register if another node is ahead of us */
 			other_node_is_ahead = true;
 		}
-		PQfinish(cell->node_info->conn);
-		cell->node_info->conn = NULL;
+
 	}
 
 	/* vote for myself, but only if I believe no-one else is ahead */
@@ -1722,4 +1754,3 @@ close_connections_physical()
 	}
 
 }
-