Mathematics in the Modern World

Voting
Ezra Aguilar
Arturo Patungan
University of Santo Tomas
Essential Questions:

• Why is voting an important responsibility for

citizens?
• Why is voting important decision making?
• Does our Constitution require that every
person’s vote count the same as another person’s
vote?
• Why would that be important?
• What are the subtle applications of Voting?

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Voting in the Philippines: 1987
Constitution

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When do we Consider Voting?

• An essential element of Democratic form of

Government
 Selection of Leaders
 Creation of Laws
 Deciding the Outcome of Issues
• A basic element in Decision Making
• Necessary to gather the group concensus

→ In deciding upon a winner, there is always

one main goal: to reflect the preferences of
the people in the most fair way possible.

Copyright 2018: Mathematics in the Modern World by Winston S. Sirug, Ph.D.

Voting

the action or process of indicating choice, opinion, or

will on a question, such as the choosing of a candidate,
by or as if by some recognized means, such as a ballot
Voting Methods

Plurality Method

Plurality with Elimination Method

Rank – Choice or Instant Runoff Method

Borda Count Method

Pairwise Comparison Method

Plurality Method
A study was conducted to find out which
among the pressing issues in the Philippines
are the people are most concerned about.
“What is issue that Filipinos are most
concerned about?”
 Each person votes for his or her favorite
candidate (or choice). The candidate (or
choice) who receives the most votes is
declared the winner. (In case of a tie,
special run-off elections may be held.)
 Usually mistakenly considered as the
“Majority Rule” method.
 A winner could win even he does not
have the majority vote.
Example
• Consider the preference schedule below, in which the voters in a
barangay is voting on five different candidates for Brgy. Captain. The
candidates are called A, B, C, D, and E here for simplicity.

Number of Ballots Cast

150 340 240 360 200 300

1st choice B C B D B E

2nd choice C A D C E A

3rd choice A D C A A D

4th choice D B A E C B

5th choice e E E B D C

• Determine the winner under the plurality method.

Plurality with Elimination Method

 Each person votes for his or her favorite

candidate (or choice). If a candidate receives
a majority of votes, that candidate is declared
the winner. If no candidate receives a
majority, then the candidate with the fewest
votes is eliminated and a new election is held.
This process continues until a candidate
receives a majority of the votes.
Example
• A company is planning a company outing next summer.
There are three possible locations for the outing:
Amanpulo in Palawan, Pandan Island in Mindoro, and Bella
Rocca Island in Marinduque. The 1000 employees including
managers and department heads have to decide based on
costs, amenities, and safety. The results of the election is
given in the following table.
Amanpulo Bella Rocca Pandan

Number of Votes 364 336 300

• Using the plurality method of voting, which location wins?

• Using the plurality with elimination method of voting,
which location wins?
Example

Assuming the result of the new voting, with Pandan Island

being eliminated is given below. Where will the company
outing be held?
Amanpulo Bella Rocca Pandan
Number of Votes 584 416 0
Rank Choice or Instant Runoff Method

• Each voter ranks all of the candidates; that is, each

voter selects his or her first choice, second choice,
third choice, and so on. If a candidate receives a
majority of first-choice votes, that candidate is
declared the winner. If no candidate receives a
majority, then the candidate with the fewest first
choice votes is eliminated and those votes are given to
the next preferred candidate. If a candidate now has a
majority of first-choice votes, that candidate is
declared the winner. If no candidate receives a
majority, this process continues until a candidate
receives a majority.

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Example
• Consider the voting of the 1000 employees to
choose the island for their company outing. They
were asked to write their 1st choice, 2nd choice and
3rd choice. The results are shown in the following
table preference table.
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 90 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

a) Use the plurality method to determine the winner

b) Use the instant runoff method to determine the
winner.

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Example 1 (Solution)

b) Use the instant runoff method to determine the winner.

Because P (Pandan Island) received the fewest
number of first-choice votes (220), Pandan island
is eliminated, and a modified voter preference
schedule has to be made. The modified table is
given below after eliminating C.
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 90 220

1st choice A A B B A B

2nd choice B B A A B A

• Inspecting the table for first-choice row: A got 168 + 202 +90 = 460
votes, and B got 215 + 105 + 220 = 540 votes. So, B is the winner
with 540 votes, or 54%, which is a majority.

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Example
Borda Count
1 (Solution)
Method

• Each voter ranks all of the candidates; that is

each voter selects his or her first choice, second
choice, third choice, and so on. If there are k
candidates, each candidate receives k points for
each first-choice vote, (k-1) points for each
second-choice vote, (k-2) points for each third-
choice vote, and so on. The candidate with the
most total points is declared the winner.

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Copyright 2018: Mathematics in the Modern World by Winston S. Sirug, Ph.D.
Example
• Consider the voting of the 1000 employees to
choose the island for their company outing. They
were asked to write their 1st choice, 2nd choice and
3rd choice. The results are shown in the following
table preference table.
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 90 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

a) Use Borda Count Method in coming up with a

winner.

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Pairwise Comparison Method

• Each voter ranks all of the candidates; that is

each voter selects his or her first choice, second
choice, third choice, and so on. For each
possible paring of candidates, the candidate
with the most votes receives 1 point; if there is
a tie, each candidate receives ½ point. The
candidate who receives the most points is
declared the winner.
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method

• Let us consider again the decision of a company to

determine the island destination to have their
summer outing.
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 90 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

• Because there are 𝑘 = 3 candidates, there must be

3!
3 pairwise comparisons; that is 𝐶23 = = 3.
3−2 !2!
• Specifically, we investigate A versus B, A versus P,
and B versus P.
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method
• A (Amanpulo) versus B (Bella Rocca):
• In the 1st column, we see that A is preferred over B. So, A
receives the168 votes. In the 2nd column, A is preferred
over B, so A receives the 202 votes. In the 5th column, A
is preferred over B, so A receives 90 votes. In the 3rd
column, B is preferred over A, so B receives the 215
votes. In the 4th column, B is preferred over A, so B is
preferred over A, so B receives the 105 votes. Also, in the
6th, B is preferred over A, so B receives the 220 votes.
• Tallying the results, we obtain the following totals:
votes for A = 168 + 202 +90 = 460
votes for B = 215 + 105 + 220 =540
• For the comparison between A and B, voters preferred B over A.
So, B receives 1 point.
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method
• A (Amanpulo) versus P (Pandan Island):
• In the 1st column, we see that A is preferred over P. So, A
receives the168 votes. In the 2nd column, A is preferred
over B, so A receives the 202 votes. In the 3rd column, A
is preferred over P, so A receives 215 votes. In the 4th
column, P is preferred over A, so P receives the 105
votes. In the 5th column, P is preferred over A, so P
receives the 90 votes. Also, in the 6th column, P is
preferred over A, so P receives the 220 votes.
• Tallying the results, we obtain the following totals:
votes for A = 168 + 202 + 215 = 585
votes for P = 105 + 90 + 220 = 415
• For the comparison between A and P, voters preferred A over P.
So, A receives 1 point.
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method
• B (Bella Rocca) versus P (Pandan Island):
• In the 1st column, we see that B is preferred over P. So, B
receives the168 votes. In the 2nd column, P is preferred
over B, so P receives the 202 votes. In the 3rd column, B is
preferred over P, so B receives 215 votes. In the 4th
column, B is preferred over P, so B receives the 105 votes.
In the 5th column, P is preferred over B, so P receives the
90 votes. Also, in the 6th column, P is preferred over B, so
P receives the 220 votes.
• Tallying the results, we obtain the following totals:
votes for B = 168 + 215 + 105 = 488
votes for P = 202 + 90 + 220 = 512
• For the comparison between B and P, voters preferred P over B.
So, P receives 1 point.
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method

• Tallying the points, we see that A received 1

point, B received 1 point, and P received 1
point.
• Since, none of the destination islands got the
higher number of points, there is no
declared winner.
• Another method must be used to declare
the winner.
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method

• Now suppose the preference table is as

follows:
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 225 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

• Comparing: A versus B
A got 168 + 202 + 225 =595
B got 215 + 105 + 220 = 540
• So, A (Amanpulo) gets 1 point
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method

• Now suppose the preference table is as

follows:
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 225 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

• Comparing: A versus P
A got 168 + 202 + 215 =585
P got 105+225+220 = 550
• So, A (Amanpulo) gets 1 point
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method

• Now suppose the preference table is as

follows:
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 225 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

• Comparing: B versus P
B got 168 + 215 + 105=488
P got 202 +105+ 220 = 647
• So, P gets 1 point
Example: The Pairwise Comparison Method
Number of Ballots Cast

168 202 215 105 225 220

1st choice A A B B P P

2nd choice B P A P A B

3rd choice P B P A B A

•Tallying the points:

A got 2 points
P got 1 point
Consequently, A (Amanpulo) is declared the
winner.
Student Activity: Debate

Proposed Federal System of Government