Lesson 2: The Borda Count Method and the

Plurality-with-Elimination Method
Learning Objectives:
1. Determine the winner of an election using the Borda count method.

2. Decide if an election violates the majority criterion.

3. Determine the winner of an election using the plurality-with-elimination method.

4. Decide if an election violates the monotonicity criterion.

PRELIMINARIES:
When was election and voting started in the Philippines? . . .
By virtue of the Tydings-McDuffie or Philippine Independence Act of 1934, the Commonwealth of
the Philippines was established, creating with it the position of president and vice president and a
unicameral legislature called the National Assembly. It also mandated the Philippine Legislature to
call for an election of delegates to a Constitutional Convention to draft a constitution for the Philip-
pines. The document produced was submitted to the President of the United States for certification
on March 25, 1935, and was ratified by the Filipino people through a national plebiscite on May 14,
1935.
On September 16, 1935, the first national elections in the Philippines were held. The two leading
Nationalist politicians-outgoing Senate President Manuel L. Quezon and former Senate president
pro-tempore Sergio Osmena-joined forces to form a powerhouse coalition ticket. They faced former
President Emilio Aguinaldo and Raymundo Melliza, who ran under the National Socialist Party,
and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay of the Philippine Independent Church who, with Norberto Nabong,
reestablished the Republican Party.
The coalition ticket won by a landslide, with Quezon
winning in all provinces except the Aguinaldo and Aglipay
bailiwicks of Cavite and Ilocos Norte, respectively. Osmena,
on the other hand, demolished his opponents and lost only in
the province of Cavite, a feat unsurpassed to this day.
While united for the country’s top two positions, Que-
zon’s Partido Nacionalista Demo-crata (Antis) and Osmena’s
Partido Pro-Independencia Democrata (Pros) slugged it out
for seats in the National Assembly. This unicameral legisla-
ture had 98 elected members, of which 87 were from existing
representative districts, eight from existing special provinces,
and three from the Mountain Province. A significant major-
ity of elected assemblymen were Antis (72%), while 21%
were Pros; the rest belonged to opposition groups.
The 1935 Constitution came into full force and effect on November 15, 1935, with the inaugu-
ration of the Commonwealth. Among its provisions was that it would remain the constitution of the
Republic of the Philippines once independence was recognized on July 4, 1946.

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LESSON DEVELOPMENT:

The Borda Count Method

A second method of voting when there are three or more alternatives is called the Borda
count method. This method was developed by a French naval captain and mathematician,
Jean-Charles de Borda. To be fair, however, the method wa used to elect Roman senators
about 1,600 years before Borda was born.
The Borda count method of voting requires the voter to rank each candidate from most
favorable to least favorable then assigns 1 point to the last-place candidate, 2 points to the
next-to-the-last-place candidate, 3 points to the third-from-the-last-place candidate, etc.
The points for each candidate are totaled separately, and the candidate with the most points
wins the election.

EXAMPLE 1: Using the Borda Count Method

The preference table for a club presidential election consisting of three candidates is shown.

a. Use the Borda count method to determine the winner.

b. Who wins using plurality method? Is there any real difference between the result
with the two methods?
Number of Votes 15 8 3 2
First choice B A C A
Second choice C B A C
Third choice A C B B

Solution:
1. Since there are three candidates, we assign 1 point for the third choice, 2 points for
the second choice, and 3 points for the first choice. Then multiply the number of
votes by the number of the choice each candidate to get the total points.

Candidate A: Candidate C:
10 first-choice votes 10 · 3 = 30
3 first-choice votes 3 · 3 = 9
3 second-choice votes 3 · 2 = 6
17 second-choice votes 17 · 2 = 34
15 third-choice votes 15 · 1 = 15
8 third-choice votes 8 · 1 = 8
Total 51 points
Total 51 points
Candidate B:
15 first-choice votes 15 · 3 = 45
8 second-choice votes 8 · 2 = 16
5 third-choice votes 6 · 1 = 5
Total 66 points

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 Candidate B has the most points and wins the election.

2. By Plurality method, all we care about is the first-place votes. Thus

Candidates First-place votes

Candidate A 8 + 2 = 10 votes
Candidate B 15 votes
Candidate C 3 votes

So, again Candidate B wins.

CAUTION Make sure that you award the most points to the candidate listed first! It’s very
common to mistakenly award one point for a first place vote, two points for the second , and so on.

TRY THIS ONE! 1

There are four candidates for homecoming queen at St. Michael’s College: Kia(K), Layla
(L), Michelle (M), and Natalie (N). The preference table for the election is shown.
Number of Votes 232 186 95 306
First choice M K M L
Second choice L L L K
Third choice L N K N
Fourth choice N M N M

1. Using the Borda count method, determine who won the election.

Queen Kia Votes Point Sub-total Queen Michelle Votes Point Sub-total
First choice First choice
Second choice Second choice
Third choice Third choice
Fourth choice Fourth choice
Total Total

Queen Layla Votes Point Sub-total Queen Natalie Votes Point Sub-total
First choice First choice
Second choice Second choice
Third choice Third choice
Fourth choice Fourth choice
Total Total

Winner:

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 2. Would the same person win the election if the plurality method was used? What’s
really unusual about the election in this case?

Candidates First-place votes

Queen Kia
Queen Layla
Queen Michelle
Queen Natalie

The Borda count method, like the plurality method, has its own shortcomings. This
method sometimes violates the fairness criterion called the majority criterion.
DEFINITION: The majority criterion states that if a candidate receives a majority of first-
place votes, then that candidate should be the winner of the election.

EXAMPLE 2: Checking the Majority Criterion

The staff of an entertainment magazine is voting for the best new kdrama show of the 2019.
The choices are Hotel del Luna (H), Vagabond (V), and Crash Landing on You (C). The
results are summarized below. If the winner is chosen using the Borda count method, does
the election violate the majority criterion?
Number of Votes 11 7 6 4
First choice V H H V
Second choice H C V C
Third choice C V C H

Solution: First, find the winner using the Borda count method:

Hotel del Luna:

13 first-choice votes 13 · 3 = 39
11 second-choice votes 3 · 2 = 22
4 third-choice votes 4 · 1 = 4
Total 65 points

Vagabond:

15 first-choice votes 15 · 3 = 45
6 second-choice votes 6 · 2 = 12
7 third-choice votes 4 · 1 = 7
Total 64 points

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Crash Landing on You:

0 first-choice votes 0 · 3 = 0
11 second-choice votes 11 · 2 = 22
17 third-choice votes 17 · 1 = 17
Total 39 points

Hotel Del Luna wins using the Borda count method, but of 28 ballots cast, 15 ( 53.5%)
listed Vagabond first. This means that a majority of voters listed Vagabond first, and since
it didn’t win, the majority criterion is violated.

TRY THIS ONE! 2

(From Try This One 1)There are four candidates for homecoming queen at St. Michael’s
College: Kia(K), Layla (L), Michell (M), and Natalie (N). The preference table for the
election is shown.
Number of Votes 232 186 95 306
First choice M K M L
Second choice L L L K
Third choice L N K N
Fourth choice N M N M
Does the election violate the majority criterion?

Candidates Total-first Votes Percentage

Queen Kia
Queen Layla
Queen Michelle
Queen Natalie

Conclusion:

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The Plurality-with-Elimination Method
The plurality-with-elimination method is sort of like a demolition derby, where every-
one is competing against everyone else, and contestants re eliminated one at a time. (Some
call it the "survival of the fittest" method.) It was designed specifically with the majority
criterion in mid; if no candidate gets a majority of first-place votes, a series of rounds is
used in which candidates are eliminated and votes are recounted.

DEFINITION: In the plurality-with-elimination, the candidate with the majority of the

first-place votes is declared the winner. If no candidate has a majority of first-place votes,
the candidate(or candidates) with the least number of first-place votes is eliminated, then
the candidates who were below the eliminated candidate move up on the ballot, and the
number of first-place votes is counted again. If a candidate receives the majority of first-
place votes, that candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate receives a majority of
first-place votes, the one with the least number of first-place votes is eliminated, and the
process continue.

EXAMPLE 3: Using the Plurality-with-Elimination Method

Use the plurality-with-elimination to determine the winner of the election shown in the
preference table.
Number of Votes 6 27 17 9
First choice A B C D
Second choice D A D B
Third choice C C B C
Fourth choice B D A A
Solution:

Round 1: there were 59 votes cast, and no one received a majority of votes (30 or more),
so candidate A is eliminated since he has the fewest first-place votes, 6. After candidate A
is crossed out, the remaining candidates slide up to fill in the spot vacated by A.

Round 2: in this round, the 6 first-place votes candidate A received go to candidate D

because she moved up in the first column when candidate A was eliminated. But there
is still no candidate with 30 or more first-place votes, so next candidate D is eliminated
because she has the fewest first-place votes(15) in this round.

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Round 3: the 6 first-place votes candidate D received in column 1 go to C while the 9
first-place votes candidate D received in the fourth column go to candidate B. With A and
D eliminated, the preference table look like this.
Number of Votes 6 27 17 9
First choice C B C B
Second choice B C B C
Now candidate D has 36(27+9) first-place votes and candidate C has 23(6+17); candi-
date B now has a majority and is declared the winner.

TRY THIS ONE! 3

The planning committee for a company’s annual picnic votes for an afternoon activity.
The choices are basketball game (B), volleyball game (V), soccerball game(S), and frisbee
game(F)
Number of Votes 3 5 2 1 1
First choice B S V F B
Second choice S F S S V
Third choice F B B V F
Fourth choice V V F B S
Determine the winner using the plurality-with-elimination method. Explain your answer.

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 The plurality-with-elimination method, like the other two methods, has some short-
comings. One shortcoming is that it sometimes fails the fairness criterion known as the
monotonicity criterion

DEFINITION: The monotonicity criterion states that if a candidate wins an election, and a
reelection is held in which the only changes in voting favor the original winning candidate,
then that candidate should still win the reelection.

Consider this election:

Number of Votes 7 13 11 10
First choice X Z Y X
Second choice Z X Z Y
Third choice Y Y X Z
Using the pllurality-with-elimination method, candidate Y is eliminated in round 1. With
Y eliminated, the preference table looks like this.
Number of Votes 7 13 11 10
First choice X Z Z X
Second choice Z X X Z
Z wins with 24 first-place votes.

Now suppose the first election was declared invalid for some reasons, and on a second
election, the voters in column 1 change their ballots in favor of candidate Z and vote ZXY.
The new preference table will be
Number of Votes 7 13 11 10
First choice Z Z Y X
Second choice X X Z Y
Third choice Y Y X Z
Here X is eliminated on the first round and the preference table becomes
Number of Votes 7 13 11 10
First choice Z Z Y Y
Second choice Y Y Z Z
Now Y is the winner with 21 votes compared to 20 votes for Z.

In this case, the plurality-with-elimination method fails the monotonocity criterion. On

the second election, even though candidate Z had received seven more first-place votes, he
lost the election! By doing better the second time, the candidate did worse!

EXAMPLE 4: Checking the Monotonicity Criterion

Suppose that all 6 voters from the first column of the election in Example 3 are persuaded
to change their ballots to match 17 voters in the third column. Does this violate the mono-
tonicity criterion?

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 Number of Votes 6 27 17 9
First choice A B C D
Second choice D A D B
Third choice C C B C
Fourth choice B D A A
Solution:

First, we should point out that this favors candidate B, since all ballots move her from
fourth to third choice.
Number of Votes 27 23 9
First choice B C D
Second choice A D B
Third choice C B C
Fourth choice D A A
No candidate has a majority, so we eliminated the candidate with fewest first-place
votes (A). But this keeps on the first-place votes the same, so we still have no majority.
Next we eliminate candidate D, who now has the fewest first-place votes. The resulting
preference table is
Number of Votes 27 23 9
First choice B C B
Second choice C B C
Now B has a majority and wins. Since B was the winner of the original election, the
monotonicity criterion is not violated.

TRY THIS ONE! 4

If the one voter who listed soccerball last in the election in Try This One 3 changes her vote
to the order B-S-F-V, does this violate the monotonicity criterion? Determine the winner

using the plurality-with-elimination method. Explain your answer.

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 WORKSHEET 2
The Borda Count Method and the Plurality-with-Elimination Method

Name: Date:

1. A local theater asks its patrons which movies they would like to view during next month’s
"Oldies but Goodies" week. The choices are Gone with the Wind (G), Casablanca (C),
Anatomy of Murder (A), and Back to the Future (B). The preference table is shown.
Number of Votes 331 317 206 98
First choice G A C B
Second choice A C B G
Third choice C B G A
Fourth choice B G A C
a. Use the Borda count voting method to determine the winner.
b. Does the election violate the majority criterion?

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2. The Association of Self-Employed Working Persons is picking a speaker for its next
meeting. The choices for a topic are health care(H), investments(I), or advertising(A). The
results of the election are shown in the preference table.
Number of Votes 6 4 9 2
First choice H H I I
Second choice I A H A
Third choice A I A H
Using the plurality-with-elimination method of voting, determine the winner.

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