With sequential elimination of candidates from the bottom, do the supporters of the weakest candidate get extra clout by getting their second choice counted before the second choice of other voters?
No. Supporters of the bottom candidate (who is eliminated first) do not have any additional clout in an IRV tally. Sequential elimination of bottom candidates in an “exhaustive” runoff is a standard, and accepted procedure, used by U.S. Congressional caucuses for electing their leaders, and mandated in various state election laws such as for party nominations by committee. Imagine an IRV tally with five candidates. If eliminating the fifth-place candidate and transferring those voters’ ballots to their second choice gives one of the other candidates a majority (more than half the votes), that means eliminating the third or fourth-place candidate first instead could not possibly give any other candidate a majority. There are not enough votes among all of the other candidates (together they have less than half the votes) to allow any other candidate any possibility of winning, regardless of the order that candidates are eliminated (unless the rules perversely eliminated one of the top ca
Related Questions
- With sequential elimination of candidates from the bottom, do the supporters of the weakest candidate get extra clout by getting their second choice counted before the second choice of other voters?
- After the final panel of the selected candidates is published when will be selected candidate receive the offer of appointment?
- If candidates with the fewest votes are dropped first, does that mean the supporters of the weakest candidates get extra clout?
