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How it works and how you can make a difference on school board elections
the power to control election outcomes. Even candidates with more than 50% of voter support can't
win if the school insiders don't want them to. Some voters have figured out that the entire enterprise
is an exercise in utter futility, so they've dropped out. Don't drop out. Bullet vote. Here is how it
works.
Why favored candidates lose school board races
If you want one candidate to win a school board race and you’re indifferent about the rest of the
slate, your best choice is to vote only for one candidate. To see why, let’s look at a 3-candidate,
two-seat race. Candidate A is the first choice of 55% of voters. 25% support B and 20% support C.
Candidate A will win, right? Not necessarily.
Let’s assume that B’s supporters use their second vote for C and C’s supporters vote for B. That
gives B & C, combined, 45% of the vote to A’s 55%. A must win, right? Wrong.
A’s supporters still have a vote to cast for the second seat. Assume those votes are split evenly
between B & C. A loses the election. Above is an example with 100 voters (200 total votes for the
board seats). As you can see, A gets trounced because the second-seat votes put the other two
candidates over the top. When A’s supporters cast their second vote for B or C, they diminish A’s
chances of winning.
Source: Jerry Moore, My Short Pencil
win if the school insiders don't want them to. Some voters have figured out that the entire enterprise
is an exercise in utter futility, so they've dropped out. Don't drop out. Bullet vote. Here is how it
works.
Why favored candidates lose school board races
If you want one candidate to win a school board race and you’re indifferent about the rest of the
slate, your best choice is to vote only for one candidate. To see why, let’s look at a 3-candidate,
two-seat race. Candidate A is the first choice of 55% of voters. 25% support B and 20% support C.
Candidate A will win, right? Not necessarily.
Let’s assume that B’s supporters use their second vote for C and C’s supporters vote for B. That
gives B & C, combined, 45% of the vote to A’s 55%. A must win, right? Wrong.
A’s supporters still have a vote to cast for the second seat. Assume those votes are split evenly
between B & C. A loses the election. Above is an example with 100 voters (200 total votes for the
board seats). As you can see, A gets trounced because the second-seat votes put the other two
candidates over the top. When A’s supporters cast their second vote for B or C, they diminish A’s
chances of winning.
Source: Jerry Moore, My Short Pencil