What Should We Have For Dinner?
100 people rank their preferred cuisines. Six different voting methods produce four different winners from the exact same ballots. Click any method to see how it counts.
The Ballots
5 candidates: Italian, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Thai. Some voters rank all five; others only rank their favourites.
- 30 Italian › Thai › Indian › Chinese › Mexican
- 5 Italian (partial)
- 4 Indian › Chinese (partial)
- 25 Chinese › Indian (partial)
- 20 Mexican › Indian › Italian (partial)
- 16 Thai › Chinese (partial)
The Results
Each method asks a different question about what "winning" means.
Condorcet Method
Who beats every other candidate in a head-to-head matchup?
First Past the Post
Who has the most first-preference votes?
Instant Runoff Voting
Eliminate the weakest, redistribute their votes. Repeat until majority.
Alternative Vote
Like IRV, but only first and second preferences count.
Scottish STV
Proportional representation using surplus transfer and elimination.
Additional Member System
One FPTP constituency seat plus proportional list seats.
Comparison Table
| Method | Winner(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Condorcet | Indian | Pairwise |
| First Past the Post | Italian | Plurality |
| Instant Runoff Voting | Italian | Ranked choice |
| Alternative Vote | Chinese | Ranked (2 prefs) |
| FPTP (2 seats) | Italian, Chinese | Plurality |
| FPTP (3 seats) | Italian, Chinese, Mexican | Plurality |
| FPTP (4 seats) | Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Thai | Plurality |
| Scottish STV (2 seats) | Italian, Chinese | Proportional |
| Scottish STV (3 seats) | Italian, Chinese, Thai | Proportional |
| Scottish STV (4 seats) | Italian, Thai, Chinese, Mexican | Proportional |
| AMS (2 seats) | Italian, Indian | Hybrid |
| AMS (3 seats) | Italian, Indian, Thai | Hybrid |
| AMS (4 seats) | Italian, Indian, Thai, Chinese | Hybrid |