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Portland, OR re-elected a mayor who was clearly opposed by the majority... But don't blame the victim, blame the system.
Choose One Voting always results in spoilers if there are more than 2 candidates. It's the reason we have top 2 runoffs.
STAR Voting would have eliminated the problem entirely.
Like this:
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Like this:
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Like this:
Interestingly, this is the exact scenario where RCV can still result in spoilers. That's because RCV doesn't count all the rankings. The result is that in races with three competitive candidates, it can fail to elect the one who was preferred over all others.
Hypothetical Portland's Mayor Race with RCV:
40% 1st choice Wheeler>Rayford>Iannarone
31% Iannarone>Raiford>Wheeler
29% Raiford>Iannarone>Wheeler
40% 1st choice Wheeler>Rayford>Iannarone
31% Iannarone>Raiford>Wheeler
29% Raiford>Iannarone>Wheeler
Imagine this election where Raiford is stronger than Iannarone:
69% prefer Raiford over Iannarone.
60% prefer Raiford over Wheeler
60% prefer Iannarone over Wheeler
40% prefer Wheeler over Raiford and Iannarone
31% prefer Iannarone over Raiford.
69% prefer Raiford over Iannarone.
60% prefer Raiford over Wheeler
60% prefer Iannarone over Wheeler
40% prefer Wheeler over Raiford and Iannarone
31% prefer Iannarone over Raiford.
Raiford would beat all others in a head to head race and should win, but Raiford is eliminated in the first round. The 2nd choice votes for her are thus never counted, and Iannarone wins, unfairly.
Or if some Raiford voters had Wheeler as their 2nd choice then maybe he wins.
Or if some Raiford voters had Wheeler as their 2nd choice then maybe he wins.
