User:Dcary/SampleRcvResults/Oakland Mayor 2014

Background
This page provides illustrates some improved ways of reporting ranked choice voting results, using the November, 2014 contest for Oakland Mayor as an example. This sample offers some improvements by:
 * Giving a summary of votes in terms of the maximum votes counted for each candidate, which recognizes all transfers to the candidate, rather than just first-choice or first round votes.
 * Providing a graphical representation of key vote count components for quicker and more intuitive understanding of the overall contest, integrated with supporting text quantities.
 * Providing an uncluttered table of round-by-round vote counts with candidates ordered by descending maximum votes.

The numbers used in this sample are based on the results published by the Alameda County Registrar's office at the end of the business day, November 9, 2014.

Oakland mayor 2014 election results
The following table shows a summary of the instant runoff for the election. The table shows the round in which each candidate was defeated or elected the winner, the votes for the candidate in that round, and what share those votes were of all votes counting for any candidate in that round. There is also a bar graph showing those votes for each candidate and categorized as either first-round votes or votes that were transferred from another candidate.

Vote counts by round
The following table shows how votes were counted in a series of rounds of instant runoffs. Each voter could mark which candidates were the voter's first, second, and third choice. Each voter had one vote, but could mark three choices for how that vote can be counted. In each round, the vote is counted for the most preferred candidate that has not yet been eliminated. After votes are tallied for a round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Votes that counted for the eliminated candidate are transferred to the voter's next most preferred candidate that has not yet been eliminated.

Continuing votes are votes that counted for a candidate in that round. Exhausted votes represent votes that could not be transferred because a less preferred candidate was not marked on the ballot. Voters were allowed to mark only three choices because of voting system limitations. Overvotes are votes that could not be counted for a candidate because more than one candidate was marked for a choice that was ready to be counted. Undervotes are ballots that were left blank or that only marked a choice for a write-in candidate that had not qualified as a write-in candidate.