Choice Voting -- The Principle
The principle behind Choice Voting is that if 25% of the voters support a particular kind of candidate, they should elect 25% of the seats. This is known as proportional representation.Proportional representation gives representation to all voters. That way, when the city council makes a majority decision, it represents a majority of the people.
Choice Voting -- How it Works
We explain with an example. Say we use Choice Voting to elect three candidates to the Davis City Council. People vote by ranking all the candidates on the ballot in order of preference.In our case, a candidate wins once they accumulate more than 25% voter support. If 16,000 people vote, this equals 4,001 votes. We explain the winning threshold at the bottom.
We now count the votes in rounds. First, count voters' top-choice preferences. If any candidate receives 4,001 top preferences, they are elected. Transfer that candidate's excess votes to the next choice on those voters' ballots. Recount the ballots and continue the process.
If no one receives 4,001 votes in some round, eliminate the last place candidate. Transfer that candidate's votes to the next choice on those voters' ballots. Recount the ballots and continue the process until three candidates are elected.
After we elect three candidates, each candidate represents at least 4,000 voters. So Choice Voting guarantees representation to at least 75% of the 16,000 voters.
Note: Calculating the Threshold
Why is the threshold "25% plus 1" for a three-winner race? 25% is the best fraction to represent a cross-section of all voters. Let's see why.In a three-winner race, "25% plus 1" is the smallest number of votes needed to secure a win. Notice how it's possible for four candidates to each get exactly 25% of the vote. But with "25% plus 1," only three candidates can secure the win. In an n-winner election, the winning threshold is "1/(n+1) of the vote plus one."
For example, in a single-winner election, the winning threshold is a one-half the votes plus one. That's the definition of majority. Choice Voting simply continues this pattern to more than one candidate.Please e-mail yolo@cagreens.org with web updates or corrections. Thanks!