[EM] Does IRV elect "majority winners?"

[James Gilmour]

Dave Ketchum  > Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 6:07 AM
> Terry and Abd look set to duel forever.
> 
> Conduct of elections is a serious topic, but both of them 
> offer too many words without usefully covering the topic.

So let's try a small number of numbers.

At a meeting we need to elect one office-bearer (single-office, single-winner).  There are four candidates and we decide to use the
exhaustive ballot (bottom elimination, one at a time) with the requirement that to win, a candidate must obtain a majority of the
votes.

First round votes:  A 40;   B  25;  C 20;  D 15.  
No candidate has a majority, so we eliminate D.

Second round votes: A 47;  B 25;  C 20.
It seems that some of those present who voted for D in the first round did not want to vote in the second round  -  but that is
their privilege.

QUESTION: did candidate A win at the second round with 'a majority of the votes'?

James Gilmour


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