Borda count

The Borda count is a voting system used for single-winner elections in which each voter rank-orders the candidates.

Criteria passed and failed

Voting systems are often compared using mathematically-defined criteria. See voting system criterion for a list of such criteria.

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The Borda count satisfies the monotonicity criterion, the summability criterion, the consistency criterion, the participation criterion, the Plurality criterion (trivially), Reversal symmetry, and the Condorcet loser criterion.

Related Topics:
Monotonicity criterion - Summability criterion - Consistency criterion - Participation criterion - Plurality criterion - Reversal symmetry - Condorcet loser criterion

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It does not satisfy the Condorcet criterion, the Independence of irrelevant alternatives criterion, or the Independence of Clones criterion.

Related Topics:
Condorcet criterion - Independence of irrelevant alternatives - Independence of Clones criterion

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The Borda count also does not satisfy the majority criterion, i.e. if a majority of voters rank one candidate in first place, that candidate is not guaranteed to win. This could be considered a disadvantage for Borda count in political elections, but it also could be considered an advantage if the favorite of a slight majority is strongly disliked by most voters outside the majority, in which case the Borda winner could have a higher overall utility than the majority winner.

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Donald G. Saari created a mathematical framework for evaluating positional methods in which he showed that Borda count has fewer opportunities for strategic voting than other positional methods, such as plurality voting or anti-plurality voting, e.g.; "vote for two", "vote for three", etc.

Related Topics:
Donald G. Saari - Plurality voting - Anti-plurality voting

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