mysql_num_rows always returns 1

Question

The result is always 1:

$sql = \'SELECT COUNT(Vote) FROM \' . $table;
$res = mysql_query($sql, $conn);
$vote_total = mysql_num_rows($res);

Answer 1

There will only ever be one row. And in that row will be the count of votes.

$sql = 'SELECT COUNT(Vote) FROM ' . $table;
$res = mysql_query($sql, $conn);
$vote_array = mysql_fetch_array($res);
$vote_total = $vote_array[0];

If you want to count the number of votes with mysql_num_rows, you have to select ALL of the rows.