Putting It Together: Voting Theory
There are four candidates for senior class president, Garcia, Lee, Nguyen, and Smith. Using a preference ballot, ballots were cast, and the votes are shown below.1st choice | Garcia | Garcia | Lee | Nguyen | Smith |
2nd choice | Lee | Nguyen | Nguyen | Garcia | Lee |
3rd choice | Nguyen | Lee | Garcia | Lee | Garcia |
4th choice | Smith | Smith | Smith | Smith | Nguyen |
Now that the votes are in, it should be a simple matter to find out who won the election, right?
Well that depends on which voting system you choose.
Using plurality method, Smith wins. This is because Smith got first place votes, while Garcia received , Lee , and Nguyen . However, Smith was the very last choice for the majority of the students! This seems rather unfair, so let’s explore another method. The Borda count assigns points based on the ranking: 4 points for first place, 3 for second, 2 for third, and 1 for last.Garcia | Lee | Nguyen | Smith | |
1st choice (4 pts) | ||||
2nd choice (3 pts) | ||||
3rd choice (2 pts) | ||||
4th choice (1 pt) | ||||
Total Points |
1st choice | Garcia | Nguyen | Smith |
2nd choice | Nguyen | Garcia | Garcia |
3rd choice | Smith | Smith | Nguyen |
1st choice | Nguyen | Smith |
2nd choice | Smith | Nguyen |
Garcia | Lee | Nguyen | Smith | |
Garcia | ||||
Lee | ||||
Nguyen | ||||
Smith |