Feature Focus: Condorcet Voting

ElectionBuddy has offered preferential voting, using STV/IRV since the feature was first released. Recently, we have also added the ability to use the Condorcet method as opposed to the STV/IRV method.

What is Condorcet Voting?

When using Condorcet, candidates are ranked based on pairs. The winner is the candidate who wins in a one-on-one face off. Essentially, the winning candidate is the one who wins against every other candidate on the ballot when placed against each other.

This voting system is also commonly referred to as Pairwise Tallying using a Ranked Choice Ballot.

For more information, please see: Condorcet Voting Systems

How Are Results Calculated?

To start, voters are asked to rank each candidate in order of their preference. These rankings are then used to create the one-on-one match up. To reach the results using Condorcet, you would:

1. For each pair of candidates, determine the number of voters who prefer one candidate over the other. The ranking on the ballot allows the preference to be determined between two ballots.
2. Create a table/matrix that shows how many voters prefer each candidate over the other. The table/matrix allows the comparison between the pairs, to determine which candidate comes out on top against the other candidates.

A candidate wins if they have the most victories in the pairs. As well, the winning candidate must also achieve an absolute majority of the total number of formal votes. This means the winner of each pair must get more than 50 percent of the total formal votes. Votes are allocated based on how the candidates have been ranked.

If there is no clear winner when using Condorcet, you may need to do additional rounds of voting or use another voting method to determine the final winner.

What is the Benefit of Condorcet?

The Condorcet voting system wants to help ensure that the winner has the most overall support among the candidates listed on the ballot. It seeks to find the candidate that is the most preferred for the majority of the voters. The pairwise comparison helps make sure this preference is met.

Concdorcet is regarded as attractive to organizations as it is considered to give a more accurate look at the overall preference of the voters. This is because the voting method takes into account not only the choices of the voters, but puts candidates one-on-one to help determine the winner of each match up.

Conclusion

When it comes to tallying over paper, Condorcet is more complex when it comes to paper ballots, but ElectionBuddy has added this voting method to help make those votes that use Condorcet a little bit easier!

As always, if you have any questions or need any assistance please reach out to us over chat or at support@electionbuddy.com. We look forward to helping you with your voting needs!