The Ballon d'Or organizers finally clarified the exact tie-breaking procedure for when two players end up with identical point totals. If a deadlock happens, the winner is simply whoever has the higher number of first-place votes on their ballot. But if those first-place counts match too, the system doesn't stop; it immediately moves to compare second-place vote tallies instead. Should the second-place numbers remain equal as well, the process proceeds to check third-place vote counts next. This sequential comparison of place-based vote counts continues in that specific order until a single winner is finally determined from the data. #France