Using the same voter preferences:
Traditional ‘First past the post’ election: PEPPERONI wins
- Only the 1st choice votes are considered (voters don’t indicate their 2nd or 3rd choices)
- The candidate with the most votes wins
Pepperoni wins with 40% of the vote (but 60% of voters preferred another candidate)
Instant Runoff Voting: PEPPERONI wins
Round 1
- 1st choice votes are counted
- A candidate who gets over 50% wins
- If no candidate gets over 50%, go on to Round 2
Round 2
- Lowest
vote getter is eliminated – Cheese is out - For those whose 1st choice votes were for Cheese, their 2nd choice votes are counted:
- Pepperoni gets +16%
- Veggie gets +12%
Pepperoni wins with >50% of the vote
Majority Voting: CHEESE wins
This system uses the same voter preferences and evaluates how each candidate would do in a series of head-to-head match-ups with the other candidates.
- A candidate who beats all of the others wins
Head-to-Head: Pepperoni vs Cheese
Head-to-Head: Cheese vs Veggie
Head-to-Head: Pepperoni vs Veggie
Pepperoni beats Veggie (56 – 44), but since Cheese beat both of them, it’s not relevant.
In the head-to-head match-ups, Cheese beats both of its competitors: Cheese wins
IRV doesn’t always result in the candidate most preferred by a majority of the voters. Alternative versions of RCV provide that possibility.