Alternative Vote

How it works: Like IRV, but each ballot is truncated to only the first and second preferences. Third and subsequent preferences are ignored. This can produce a different winner when deep preferences would have mattered.

Counting Rounds (2 preferences only)

Round 1

Italian

35

Chinese

25

Mexican

20

Thai

16

Indian

4

Majority needed: >50.0 · Eliminated: Indian

Round 2

Italian

35

Chinese

29

Mexican

20

Thai

16

Majority needed: >50.0 · Eliminated: Thai

Round 3

Chinese

45

Italian

35

Mexican

20

Majority needed: >50.0 · Eliminated: Mexican

Round 4

Chinese

45

Italian

35

Majority needed: >40.0 · Exhausted: 20

Winner: Chinese

Why AV and IRV Diverge Here

Under full IRV, Mexican voters' third preference (Italian) eventually cascades back, giving Italian the win. Under AV, those third preferences don't exist — the ballots exhaust after the second choice, and Chinese wins instead.

This is the core trade-off: AV is simpler for voters (only rank two) but discards information that could identify a more broadly acceptable winner.