Mathematics in the Modern World

Topic 7: Mathematics of Voting

In a society, decisions are made by its members in order to come up with a situation that benefits
the most.
What is the best voting method of arriving at a decision as a group?
What makes a decision process fair?
Voting theory is the mathematical description of the process by which democratic societies resolve
the different and conflicting views of the group’s members into a single choice for the group.
Voting is the main vehicle by which decisions are arrived at in a democratic society
A preference table is a table showing how many times each possible ballot was submitted.

Plurality Method
• For each ballot, only the first place vote is counted. The “candidate” with the most first place
votes is the winner.
• If ballots are combined into a preference schedule then the Plurality method will ignore all
non-1st place votes.
• We could also determine who gets 2nd place, 3rd place, etc. . . ranking the candidates based
on their 1st-place votes (However, our main focus is usually only determining which candidate
wins 1st place.)

A majority vote means that more than 50% of the people voting must vote for the issue.
Example 1
Determine the winner using Plurality method
Fifty people were asked to rank their preferences of five varieties of chocolate candy, using 1 for their
favorite and 5 for their least favorite.
Rankings
Caramel 5 4 4 4 2 4 Caramel
Vanilla 1 5 5 5 5 5 Vanilla
Almond 2 3 2 1 3 3 Almond
Toffee 4 1 1 3 4 2 Toffee
Dark Chocolate 3 2 3 2 1 1 Dark Chocolate
Number of voters 17 11 9 8 3 2

Winner:____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Topic 7 – Voting 1
Prepared by: Cherie Chua
 Borda Count Method
If there are n candidates or choices, each voter ranks the candidates or choices by giving n points to
the voter’s first choice, n – 1 points to the voter’s second choice, and so on, with the voter’s least
favorite choice receiving 1 point.
The candidate or issue that receives the most total points is the winner.

The issue of whether plurality voting methods are fair has been around for more than 200 years. Jean
C. Borda (1733–1799) was a member of the French Academy of Sciences when he first started
thinking about the way in which people were elected to the Academy.

He was concerned that the plurality method of voting might not result in the best candidate being
elected. The Borda count method was born out of these concerns. It was the first attempt to
mathematically quantify voting systems.

Example 2
The members of a club are going to elect a president from four nominees using the Borda count
method. If the 100 members of the club mark their ballots as shown in the table below, who will be
elected president?
Ranking Points
1st place – _________
2nd place – ________
Aaron 2 2 2 2 3 2
3rd place – _________
Barron 1 4 4 3 2 1 4th place – _________
Charles 3 3 1 4 1 4
Darren 4 1 3 1 4 3
Number of voters 30 24 18 12 10 6

Aaron Barron Charles Darren

1st – _______________ 1st – _______________ 1st – _______________ 1st – _______________
2nd – ______________ 2nd – ______________ 2nd – ______________ 2nd – ______________
3rd – _______________ 3rd – _______________ 3rd – _______________ 3rd – _______________
4th – _______________ 4th – _______________ 4th – _______________ 4th – _______________
Total – _____________ Total – _____________ Total – _____________ Total – _____________

Winner:___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

The Borda count method was devised to allow voters to say, “If my first choice does not win, then
consider my second choice.”

Practice Exercise 1
Determine the winner using Borda Count Method
Fifty people were asked to rank their preferences of five varieties of chocolate candy, using 1 for their
favorite and 5 for their least favorite.

Topic 7 – Voting 2
Prepared by: Cherie Chua
 Rankings
Points
Caramel 5 4 4 4 2 4 1st place – _________
Vanilla 1 5 5 5 5 5 2nd place – ________
3rd place – _________
Almond 2 3 2 1 3 3
4th place – _________
Toffee 4 1 1 3 4 2 5th place – _________
Dark Chocolate 3 2 3 2 1 1
Number of voters 17 11 9 8 3 2

Caramel Vanilla Almond Toffee

1st – _______________
2nd – ______________
3rd – _______________
4th – _______________
5th – _______________
Total – _____________
1st – _______________ 1st – _______________ 1st – _______________
2nd – ______________ 2nd – ______________ 2nd – ______________
3rd – _______________ 3rd – _______________ 3rd – _______________
4th – _______________ 4th – _______________ 4th – _______________
5th – _______________ 5th – _______________ 5th – _______________
Total – _____________ Total – _____________ Total – _____________

Dark Chocolate
1st – _______________ Winner : ____________________________________________________
2nd – ______________
3rd – _______________ ___________________________________________________________
4th – _______________
5th – _______________ ___________________________________________________________
Total – _____________
___________________________________________________________

Plurality Method with Elimination

A variation of the plurality method of voting is called plurality with elimination.
We start with a large number of candidates, then successively remove “weak” candidates until very
few candidates remain.
• Guarantees winner has a majority of the votes
• Eliminates low-vote candidates
Like the Borda count method, the method of plurality with elimination considers a voter’s alternate
choices.
The International Olympic Committee uses this method when choosing which city gets to host the
Olympic Games.
Method of Plurality with Elimination
1. Each voter casts a ballot ranking all of the candidates from most-preferred to least-preferred.
2. If one candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, then that candidate wins the election
3. If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, then the candidate (or candidates) with
the least number of first-place votes is (are) eliminated, and we return to step 2.

Topic 7 – Voting 3
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Example 3
Suppose that 30 members of planning board must decide where in Metro Manila to build a new bus
station. The consultants to the board have recommended four different sites. The preference
schedule for the board members is shown in the following table. Determine the winner using Plurality
with elimination method.
Rankings
Quezon City 3 1 2 3
Paranaque City 2 3 3 1 __________________________________
Taguig City 1 2 4 2 __________________________________
Mandaluyong City 4 4 1 4
Number of voters 12 11 5 2 __________________________________

__________________________________
__________________________________

_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

Practice Exercise 2
A university wants to add a new sport to its existing program. To help ensure that the new sport will
have student support, the students of the university are asked to rank the four sports under
consideration. The results are shown in the following table.
Rankings
Soccer 3 2 3 1 1 2
Swimming 2 1 4 2 3 1
Baseball 4 3 2 4 4 4
Taekwondo 1 4 1 3 2 3
Number of voters 326 297 287 250 214 197

Winner:
_____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________

Topic 7 – Voting 4
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Pairwise Comparison Method
The pairwise comparison method of voting is sometimes referred to as the “head-to head” method
In this method, each candidate is compared one-on-one with each of the other candidates.
A voting method that elects the candidate who wins all head-to-head matchups is said to satisfy the
Condorcet criterion.
Example 4
There are four proposals for the name of a new football stadium at a college: Panther Stadium, after
the team mascot; Sanchez Stadium, after a large university contributor; Mosher Stadium, after a
famous alumnus known for humanitarian work; and Fritz Stadium, after the college’s most winning
football coach. Use the pairwise comparison voting method to determine the name of the stadium.
Rankings
Panther Stadium 2 3 1 2 4
Sanchez Stadium 1 4 2 4 3
Mosher Stadium 3 1 4 3 2
Fritz Stadium 4 2 3 1 1
Number of voters 752 678 599 512 487

Panther v.s. Sanchez Sanchez v.s. Mosher

Panther Sanchez
_______________________________________ _______________________________________
Sanchez Mosher
_______________________________________ _______________________________________

Panther v.s. Mosher Sanchez v.s. Fritz

Panther Sanchez
_______________________________________ _______________________________________
Mosher Fritz
_______________________________________ _______________________________________

Panther v.s. Fritz Mosher v.s. Fritz

Panther Mosher
_______________________________________ _______________________________________
Fritz Fritz
_______________________________________ _______________________________________

Panther –
Sanchez –
Fritz –
Mosher –

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
Topic 7 – Voting 5
Prepared by: Cherie Chua
Now that we have examined various voting options, we will stop to ask which of these options is the
fairest

A fairness criterion is a mathematical statement about our expectations for a voting system.

In 1948, Kenneth J. Arrow was trying to develop material for his doctoral dissertation.
As he studied, it occurred to him that he might be able to apply the principles of order relations to
problems in social choice or voting.
His investigation led him to outline various criteria for a fair voting system.
A paraphrasing of four fairness criteria.

Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem

There is no voting method involving three or more choices that satisfies all four fairness criteria.
By Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem, none of the voting methods we have discussed is fair. Not only that, but we
cannot construct a fair voting system for three or more candidates.
We will now give some examples of each of the methods we have discussed and how which of the fairness
criteria are not satisfied.

Fairness Criterion
Majority criterion
The candidate who receives a majority of the first-place votes is the winner.
Example: If someone gets the majority of the votes, more than 50% then he should win

Condorcet criterion
A candidate who wins all possible head-to-head comparison should win an election when all
candidates appear on the ballot.
Example: If Bob is preferred over Jon in a one-on-one comparison and Bob is preferred over Stacey
and Bob is preferred over Shelly, then Bob should win the election.

Monotonicity criterion
If candidate A wins an election, then candidate A will also win the election if the only change in the
voters’ preferences is that supporters of a different candidate change their votes to support
candidate A.
Example: Bob wins an election. For some reason there is a reelection. Some people change their
minds and rank Bob higher in their preference ballots. Bob should still win the election.

Independence of irrelevant alternatives

If a candidate wins an election, the winner should remain the winner in any recount in which losing
candidates withdraw from the race.
Example: Bob wins an election. Jon decides to remove himself from the election after the ballots are
counted. Shelley calls for a recount because Jon is no longer a candidate. Since Bob won initially, he
should still win.

Topic 7 – Voting 6
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Example 5
Suppose the preference schedule for three candidates, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, is given by the table below.
Rankings

Alpha 2 3 1 1
Beta 3 1 2 3
Gamma 1 2 3 2
Number of ballots 25 20 16 10

a) Determine the winner using plurality with elimination

b) Suppose that the 10 people who voted for Alpha first and Gamma second changed their votes such that they all
voted for Alpha second and Gamma first. Show that, using plurality with elimination voting, Beta will now be
elected.

Alpha 2 3 1 1
Beta 3 1 2 3
Gamma 1 2 3 2
Number of ballots 25 20 16 10

Alpha 2 3 1
Beta 3 1 2
Gamma 1 2 3
Number of ballots 25 20 16 10

c) Explain why this result violates the monotonicity criterion.

Topic 7 – Voting 7
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Summary

Plurality Method
Process: Most first-place votes wins.
Weaknesses: Doesn't take into account preferences other than first
Fairness: May violate the Condorcet Criterion.

Borda Count Method

Process: Places on a ballot are assigned points. Generally, the candidate with the most points wins
the election.
Weaknesses: Produces a winner that is a compromise candidate.
Fairness: May violate the Majority Criterion and the Condorcet Criterion.

Plurality with Elimination Method

Process: Eliminate the least favorite candidate, based on the number of first-place votes, until there is
a winner.
Weaknesses: Is susceptible to insincere or strategic voting.
Fairness: May violate the Monotonicity Criterion and the Condorcet Criterion.

Pairwise Comparison Method

Process: The candidate winning the most "matchups" (pairwise comparisons) wins the election.
Weaknesses: May produce an election in which everyone wins.
Fairness: May violate the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives Criterion.

Practice Exercises:
1. A kindergarten class was surveyed to determine children’s favorite cartoon characters among
Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob Square Pants, and Buzz Light year. The students ranked the
characters in order of preference; the results are shown in the preference schedule below.

a. How many students are in the class?

b. How many votes are required for a majority?
c. Determine the winner using Plurality method and Borda count method.

2. The Nelson family is trying to decide where to hold a family reunion. They have asked all their
family members to rank four choices in order of preference. The results are shown in the
preference schedule below. Use the pairwise comparison method to determine the best
choice for the reunion.

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 3. Three candidates are running for mayor. A vote was taken in which the candidates were
ranked in order of preference. The results are shown in the preference schedule below.

a. Use the Borda count method to determine the winner of the election.
b. Verify that the majority criterion has been violated.
c. Identify the candidate who wins all head-to-head comparisons.
d. Explain why the Condorcet Criterion has been violated.
e. If Marcia Beasley drops out of the race for mayor (and voter preferences remain the
same), determine the winner of the election again, using the Borda count method.
f. Explain why the independence of irrelevant alternatives criterion has been violated.

Topic 7 – Voting 9
Prepared by: Cherie Chua