MAY's Washington DC Event
July 2004
On July 1, 2004, The Center for Voting and Democracy held a
demonstration election at an event held by Mobilizing America's Youth
(MAY). In this election, voters used Instant
Runoff Voting (IRV) to select John Kerry's Vice Presidential
running mate for the next presidential election. A total of 56
votes were cast in our demonstration election. IRV requires that a
candidate win a majority (50% plus one) of votes in order to win the
election. In this case, the threshold to surpass was 29 votes. This
chart
details the process we used to count votes in this IRV election for Vice
President. Also, here is a summary of each round of ballot counting:
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Round 1: In the first round of counting, John Edwards
had the lead with 17 votes. He was followed closely by Hillary Clinton
with 13 votes, John McCain with 9 votes, and Howard Dean with 8 votes.
Bill Richardson won 3 votes, while Russ Feingold and Wesley Clark both had 2
votes. Finally, Richard Gephardt and John Lewis came in last, each
with 1 vote. Because no candidate received a clear majority, the
candidates who tied with the least votes, Gephardt and Lewis, were
eliminated and their votes redistributed.
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Round 2: With the votes redistributed, Richardson and
McCain each gained one vote. At this stage, the standings were Clark and
Feingold with 2 votes each, Richardson with 4 votes, Dean with 8 votes,
McCain with 10 votes, Clinton with 13 votes, and Edwards still in the lead
with 17 votes. Because Feingold and Clark tied for last place in this
round, they were both eliminated.
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Round 3: After Feingold and Clark were eliminated and
their votes redistributed, Edwards picked up 2 votes and Dean and McCain
gained 1 each. Edwards held the lead position with 19 votes and was
followed by Clinton with 13, McCain with 11 and Dean with 9 votes. With only 4 votes, Richardson was eliminated.
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Round 4: Richardson backers slightly favored Edwards
over Clinton. After Richardson was eliminated, Edwards gained 3 votes
and Clinton gained 1 vote, giving Edwards a total of 22 votes and Clinton a
total of 14. McCain followed with 11 votes, while Dean was eliminated
with 9 votes.
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Round 5: Dean's supporters evenly split their
second-choices between Edwards and Clinton who each picked up 4 votes. As
the fifth round ended, Edwards had 26 votes, Clinton had 18, and McCain was
eliminated.
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Round 6: Those backing McCain heavily favored Edwards
over Clinton. With McCain out of the race, Edwards picked up 7 votes,
giving him a total of 33 votes and making him the winner. Clinton
gained three for a second-place finish of 21 votes.
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