Example
The threshold needed to win is 5,001 votes (10,000/2 + 1 vote)
| Round 1 | The first choice votes are counted. No candidate has received a majority of the votes cast |
| Round 2 | Because no candidate reached the threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes – Candidate E – is eliminated and the votes cast for this candidate are reallocated to the voters’ second choice candidates.
The votes for Candidate E are redistributed and go to Candidate A and B in accordance with the voters’ second choices. No candidate has a majority of the votes. |
| Round 3 | Candidate D now has the fewest votes and so is eliminated. Candidate D’s ballots are redistributed, but 200 of the ballots did not have a next choice marked on the ballot and are set aside as ‘exhausted’. The other 1,200 votes get redistributed to the continuing candidates in accordance with the voters’ next preferences.
Candidate A now has a majority of the votes and so is the winner. |