“Appendix A” Voting for Everyone (not just for dummies)

DANG!!! This “Appendix A” stuff is really confusing! Actually, it’s not really as confusing as it might appear if we look at how elections, in general, are conducted. All of the very basic concepts of more “normal” elections apply, but “Appendix A” is specifically for elections where there are multiple positions available. That’s really the only difference. So, let’s first take a look at the math involved for “normal” elections.

First of all, let’s consider a completely standard election where two candidates are competing for one position. That’s simple enough! Whoever gets the most votes wins, right? But what if a candidate knows how many votes will be cast and wants to know how many he needs to be guaranteed that he will win? That’s a fairly simple math problem.

Here’s the math . . . First, we take the number of positons that are to be filled by election. In this case that would be one. Then we add one more to that number. That gives us two. Then we divide that result into the number of ballots to be cast. In this case let’s say that there are 100 voters. We need to eliminate the possibility of a 50-50 tie, so if the result is a whole number, we need to add one. If there’s an odd number of voters the result will include a decimal, so we just round up to the next whole number. 1 1 + 1 = 2 100 2 =50 100 2 = 50 + 1 = 51 101 2 = 50.5 + .5 = 51

It really makes no difference how many candidates are involved It really makes no difference how many candidates are involved. In a five-person race a candidate may feel confident that they’ll win if they get at least 35% of the vote, but another candidate could get 36% with the remaining 3 people splitting the other 29%. So, to be assured of election they still need to assume that it’ll take 50% plus one (or plus a fraction) to guarantee a win,

Okay. That’s simple enough, right Okay! That’s simple enough, right? So, how does all of this pertain to the crazy, complicated, convoluted and confusing “Appendix A” system? The math involved is really all the same. It’s just one number that gets changed, that being the number of positions to be filled. Let’s suppose that we once again have many candidates who are competing for two equal positions instead of just one. For the sake of argument let’s say we have seven candidates to fill those two positions and 100 voters.

Here’s the math for 2 positions . . . First, we take the number of positons that are to be filled by election. In this case that would be two. Then we add one more to that number. That gives us three. Then we divide that result into the number of ballots to be cast. In this case we’re saying that there are 100 voters. The result includes a decimal, so we just round up to the next whole number. 2 2 + 1 = 3 100 3 =33.3 100 3 = 33.3 + .7 = 34 In Appendix A the resulting number, which guarantees a candidate election, is sometimes referred to as the “Magic Number”, but there’s really nothing magical about it. It’s all just math. While it’s possible for two people to receive at least 34 votes it’s NOT possible for 3 people to get to that level.

Let’s take it a little bit further Let’s take it a little bit further. Let’s suppose that we have 7 positions to be filled on a committee, and maybe 11 candidates. First, we take the number of positons that are to be filled by election. In this case that would be seven. Then we add one more to that number. That gives us eight. Then we divide that result into the number of ballots to be cast. In this case we’re saying that there are 100 voters. The result includes a decimal, so we just round up to the next whole number. 7 7 + 1 = 8 100 8 =12.5 100 8 = 12.5 + .5 = 13 So, 7 candidates could each get 13 votes, but that would account for 91 votes. With only 9 votes left it would be impossible for an 8th candidate to get enough votes to reach the “Magic Number” of 13.

But that still leaves us with a problem! ___________________ What if one or two of the candidates get so many votes that none of the other candidates get any votes at all? This is where “Appendix A” goes beyond the math and it’s very important that voters understand the process before they cast their ballots. “Appendix A” is a preferential balloting system. Every ballot has multiple lines that can be used, and voters should list their preferred candidates in the order of their preference. Patrick Wood Penelope Meadows Bertie Savage Beulah Lester Parker Holmes

No, this does NOT mean that each voter gets 5 votes! ___________________ What happens next is, once the ballots are inserted into a collection box the ballots are mixed and those conducting the election begin drawing the ballots at random, one at a time. Ballots are numbered as they’re drawn so that the process can be replicated if necessary, but the key step here is that the FIRST name on the first ballot is read and that person receives the vote for that ballot. So, why are there multiple names listed on the ballot if only the first person listed gets the vote for that ballot? Parker Holmes Beulah Lester Bertie Savage Penelope Meadows Patrick Wood

Bertie Savage e Beulah Lester ec Manuel Gabaldon ee Penelope Meadows eec Muriel Cain eeb Patrick Wood eec Parker Holmes eec Katheryn Thornton e Christian Palmer eb Allyson Carey eb Esperanza Jennie Goodwin ea Remember that in our hypothetical “Appendix A” election with 7 positions to be filled and 100 ballots to be cast the number of votes needed to guarantee election was 13. Under “Appendix A”, once a candidate has been elected, no additional votes will be counted for that candidate. If the name of a candidate who has already been elected appears on the first line of the ballot then the candidate on the second line will receive the vote. If the candidate on the second line has also been elected then the vote will go to the candidate on the third line, and so on.

a Patrick Wood Penelope Meadows Bertie Savage Beulah Lester So, in this hypothetical situation, with 99 votes already counted and tallied, we look at the ballot and see that the first preference is for Patrick Wood. But Patrick already has 13 votes so we look at Penelope Meadows. But Penelope has also already been elected, so we drop to line 3 and give Bertie Savage her sixth vote. With Patrick, Penelope and Parker all elected and no more ballots to be counted we look at candidates with 12 votes to try to fill our allocation of seven. Muriel has 12 votes so she is our fourth winner. Bertie Savage e Beulah Lester ec Manuel Gabaldon ee Penelope Meadows eec Muriel Cain eeb Patrick Wood eec Parker Holmes eec Katheryn Thornton e Christian Palmer eb Allyson Carey eb Esperanza Jennie Goodwin ea ___________________ Parker Holmes Beulah Lester Bertie Savage Penelope Meadows Patrick Wood

Since nobody has 11 votes we look for three more candidates with 10 votes. That makes Manuel our fifth candidate to be elected. We still need to elect two more. Nobody has nine votes, but Beulah has eight, so she becomes our number six candidate to be elected. We still need to proclaim one more candidate to be elected. Both Christian and Allyson have seven votes. So they will draw cards to determine which one of them wins the seventh and final position. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO WE EVER GO BACK AND ADD ADDITIONAL VOTES TO ANYONE! Each voter gets one ballot and only one vote will count. But it’s clear that you should always put your first choice on line #1, your second choice on line #2 and so on. Bertie Savage ea Beulah Lester ec Manuel Gabaldon ee Penelope Meadows eec Muriel Cain eeb Patrick Wood eec Parker Holmes eec Katheryn Thornton e Christian Palmer eb Allyson Carey eb Esperanza Jennie Goodwin ea  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected

So there, in a nutshell, is how “Appendix A” voting works So there, in a nutshell, is how “Appendix A” voting works. There’s just one more thing. Many times, when we elect individuals using “Appendix A”, we are required to obtain results that are “gender balanced”. We can do this by either having two separate elections . . . one for men and one for women . . . or by having just one election where we simply stop accepting as “elected” individuals of one group or the other once that group has reached half of the number to be elected. Once again, the important thing to remember when voting in an “Appendix A” election is that the person that you REALLY want to vote for goes on line #1. Your second choice goes on line #2 and so on. Bertie Savage ea Beulah Lester ec Manuel Gabaldon ee Penelope Meadows eec Muriel Cain eeb Patrick Wood eec Parker Holmes eec Katheryn Thornton e Christian Palmer eb Allyson Carey eb Esperanza Jennie Goodwin ea  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected  Elected