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Parliamentary Education Office, 2008. Please visit the Image Library page for important information about use of images.

Description

This diagram is a visual description of how preferential voting works.

There are four candidates, Cherry Some, Harold Sad, Sonya Most and Basil Least. A total of 100 votes are cast.

In the first preference count:

• Cherry Some receives 18 votes
• Harold Sad receives 35 votes
• Sonya Most receives 41 votes
• Basil Least receives 6 votes.

Basil Least has received the smallest number of votes. These votes are redistributed according to second preferences. This means that in the second preference count:

• Cherry Some receives 19 votes
• Harold Sad receives 40 votes
• Sonya Most receives 41 votes.

This time, Cherry Some has received the smallest number of votes. These votes are redistributed according to third preferences. This means that in the third count:

• Harold Sad receives 47 votes
• Sonya Most receives 53 votes.

Absolute majority is more than 50% of the total votes. With 100 votes the absolute majority is any number more than 50. Sonya Most is elected with 53% of the vote.