Talk:1847 University of Cambridge Chancellor election

Paired votes
At the end of the section on Casting votes is a table of the voting. What on earth is meant by "Paired" votes ? (See the two columns at the right.) No explanation is given and I do not suppose that general readers shall be any more familiar with the terminology than am I.  A footnote or parenthetical remark before the table would be entirely sufficient, but at least some explanation should be given ! &mdash; Eddy. 84.215.27.2 (talk) 04:47, 11 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately none of the sources I consulted explained anything more about it other than the appearance of the voters in the poll books. However, the principle is the same as the procedure for pairing votes in the two Houses of the British Parliament - it's a procedure whereby those unable to vote agree to 'pair' with someone from the opposite camp and neither votes, so that the overall majority is maintained and neither side gains an advantage from the indisposition of its opponents. See Pair (parliamentary convention). Sam Blacketer (talk) 20:28, 13 October 2011 (UTC)