majority puzzle

[Atul Kapur]

On 8/26/2022 at 2:37 PM, puzzling said:

I thought maybe we can conclude that the two members voting for A only, should be satisfied (all their candidates sre selected) so we can remove these ballots from the stack and treat the remaining balls as the second round

"Well there's your problem." You cannot assume that the two voters who only voted for A would abstain on the second ballot. That would be more applicable if you had a preferential ballot, but you haven't given us any indication that this was a preferential ballot.

Your confusion (distinct from Mr. Elsman's 😉) arises because you are mixing elements of a preferential ballot and a ballot for two identical positions conducted simultaneously.

[puzzling]

On 8/26/2022 at 7:46 PM, Rob Elsman said:

Oddly enough, the latest information is as confusing and ambiguous as the first.  I still do not understand whether

(A) four voters cast three legal votes for B; or,

(B) three voters cast two legal votes for B.

Is it (A) or (B)?

Neither

it is 3 voters cast 4 votes for B

of which 3 votes are legal.

 

[Dan Honemann]

On 8/26/2022 at 3:15 PM, Richard Brown said:

I agree that one person voting twice for the same candidate (Candidate B ) on one ballot is counted as voting once for that candidate, but apparently not everyone agrees with that. I really do think it’s important that we nail down how many votes candidate B actually received to know how to properly attribute and count votes.

If you are referring to the original statement of facts, B received 3 legal votes. 

[Richard Brown]

On 8/26/2022 at 3:21 PM, Dan Honemann said:

If you are referring to the original statement of facts, B received 3 legal votes. 

I agree. That is my understanding, too.  However, I think a couple of posters have stated they believe that B only received two legal votes. That’s why I wanted some clarification – so that we all know what the answer should be.

[Rob Elsman]

Thank you very much for the clarification.  I think we can all now agree that there were seven legal voters casting three legal votes for B.  And, I think we can all agree that the three legal votes are insufficient for B to have won the election in this round of voting, since three votes out of seven votes is not a majority vote, as that term is understood in parliamentary law.  Are we all good?  🙂

[Gary Novosielski]

On 8/25/2022 at 11:06 PM, Tapestry said:

If the one person who tried to vote twice, marking two votes for B, the entire ballot is invalid, correct?

No.  It would count as one vote for B, and one illegal duplicate vote.  

[Tapestry]

Thanks @Gary Novosielski, et al. I'm still grappling with the concept of one ballot being both legal and illegal at the same time, but I'll get there.

[Atul Kapur]

One of the votes on that ballot is illegal, not the ballot itself.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 8/27/2022 at 10:23 PM, Tapestry said:

Thanks @Gary Novosielski, et al. I'm still grappling with the concept of one ballot being both legal and illegal at the same time, but I'll get there.

For a full description of what's legal, illegal, counted, ignored, and such. refer to the rules starting at RONR 45:31.

[Tapestry]

@Atul Kapur and @Gary Novosielski Thank you both for your additional guidance.