How do you do the plurality method

Looking back at our preference table, how would our members vote if they only had two choices? That hardly seems fair.

Marquis de Condorcet, a French philosopher, mathematician, and political scientist wrote about how this could happen in , and for him we name our first fairness criterion. If there is a choice that is preferred in every one-to-one comparison with the other choices, that choice should be the winner. We call this winner the Condorcet Winner , or Condorcet Candidate.

We see above that Hawaii is preferred over Anaheim. Comparing Hawaii to Orlando, we can see 6 out of 10 would prefer Hawaii to Orlando. Since Hawaii is preferred in a one-to-one comparison to both other choices, Hawaii is the Condorcet Winner. Even though city council is technically a nonpartisan office, people generally know the affiliations of the candidates. A preference schedule for the votes looks as follows:. Computing percentage of first place votes:. Analyzing this election closer, we see that it violates the Condorcet Criterion.

Analyzing the one-to-one comparisons:. So even though Don had the smallest number of first-place votes in the election, he is the Condorcet winner, being preferred in every one-to-one comparison with the other candidates. The Condorcet method, though, examines head-to-head comparisons:.

In this case, there is no Condorcet winner, because no one was preferred in a majority of the one-to-one comparisons with the other candidates. Situations when there are more than one candidate that share somewhat similar points of view, can lead to insincere voting. Insincere voting is when a person casts a ballot counter to their actual preference for strategic purposes.

In the case above, the democratic leadership might realize that Don and Key will split the vote, and encourage voters to vote for Key by officially endorsing him. The following video gives another mini lesson that covers the plurality method of voting as well as the idea of a Condorcet Winner.

Skip to main content. Module 7: Voting Theory. Search for:. Plurality Method Learning Outcomes Determine the winner of an election using preference ballots Evaluate the fairness of an election using preference ballots. Preference ballot A preference ballot is a ballot in which the voter ranks the choices in order of preference.

Data presentation In the tables below, note the two variables present: city-order and number of votes. Solution Goings received 78 1st-choice votes.

Fairness Criteria The fairness criteria are statements that seem like they should be true in a fair election. A preference ballot is a ballot in which the voter ranks the choices in order of preference. Their votes are shown below:. These individual ballots are typically combined into one preference schedule , which shows the number of voters in the top row that voted for each option:.

The following video will give you a summary of what issues can arise from elections, as well as how a preference table is used in elections. In this method, the choice with the most first-preference votes is declared the winner. Ties are possible, and would have to be settled through some sort of run-off vote.

Which candidate wins under the plurality method? The election from the above example may seem totally clean, but there is a problem lurking that arises whenever there are three or more choices.

Looking back at our preference table, how would our members vote if they only had two choices? That hardly seems fair. Marquis de Condorcet, a French philosopher, mathematician, and political scientist wrote about how this could happen in , and for him we name our first fairness criterion. If there is a choice that is preferred in every one-to-one comparison with the other choices, that choice should be the winner.

We call this winner the Condorcet Winner , or Condorcet Candidate. We see above that Hawaii is preferred over Anaheim. Comparing Hawaii to Orlando, we can see 6 out of 10 would prefer Hawaii to Orlando. Since Hawaii is preferred in a one-to-one comparison to both other choices, Hawaii is the Condorcet Winner. Even though city council is technically a nonpartisan office, people generally know the affiliations of the candidates. A preference schedule for the votes looks as follows:.

Computing percentage of first place votes:.