Every RCV Election in the Bay Area So Far Has Produced Condorcet Winners
There are numerous ways to assess an electoral system. Mathematicians and political scientists have developed hundreds of different criteria, with the most common including the majority criterion, the later-no-harm criterion and the Condorcet winner criterion.
The Condorcet winner criterion is one of the most common criteria. It states that the candidate who would win a one-on-one matchup against any other candidate should win the election. The frequency with which an electoral system elects Condorcet winners is a good measure of whether the election system reflects the political center of a given electorate, since a Condorcet winner, by definition, has to be able to win over a majority of the electorate regardless of alternative choices.
A system that more often elects Condorcet winners will less often elect a candidate disliked by the majority of voters--an outcome that US voters in plurality elections and low turnout runoffs know all too well. It is hard to estimate how many US elections using plurality and runoff systems elect candidates disliked by a majority of voters, but we all have anecdotes of reviled politicians who somehow manage to keep being re-elected.
Read morePRESS RELEASE: Bay Area Ranked Choice Voting Elections Analysis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2016
FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
California: Pedro Hernandez, Deputy Director, FairVote California
(415) 613-2363 / [email protected]
National: Michelle C. Whittaker, Director of Communications, FairVote
(301) 270-1238 / (301) 270-4616 / [email protected]
Bay Area Ranked Choice Voting Elections Analysis
Strong showing of voters embracing ranked choice voting, majority winners determined with broad support
San Francisco, CA — Voters used ranked ballots in twelve (12) competitive races featuring more than two candidates in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. FairVote California’s (FVCA) early analysis of the results shows advantages for candidates that actively campaigned for second and third choice support from voters. The four Bay Area cities with ranked choice voting continue to have among the most diverse representatives in the nation, with new winners including Jesse Arreguin becoming the first Latino mayor of Berkeley with a 59% to 41% win in the final instant runoff in an eight-candidate race.
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