DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 1

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,684.0  (16.4%)  Elected
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,606.0  (15.9%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,190.0  (13.4%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,071.0  (12.6%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,043.0  (12.5%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  1,990.0  (12.1%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,781.0  (10.9%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  967.0  (5.9%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.0  (0.3%)   
Write-In 2  Chart color  2.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 6  Chart color  2.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 4  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 5  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Pie chart

In the first round, the first choices on each ballot are tallied.
Turkel, Alice has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 2

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,606.0  (15.9%)  Elected
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,224.8  (13.6%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,088.7  (12.7%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,178.3  (13.3%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,114.2  (12.9%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,802.3  (11.0%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  976.7  (6.0%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.1  (0.3%)   
Write-In 2  Chart color  2.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 6  Chart color  2.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 4  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 5  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Pie chart

Segat, Susana has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















  

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 3

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,259.4  (13.8%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,105.9  (12.9%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,278.0  (13.9%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,196.6  (13.4%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,823.8  (11.1%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  986.0  (6.0%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.4  (0.3%)   
Write-In 2  Chart color  2.1  (0.0%)   
Write-In 6  Chart color  2.1  (0.0%)   
Write-In 4  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Write-In 5  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)  Defeated
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Write-In 5) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 4

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,259.4  (13.8%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,105.9  (12.9%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,278.0  (13.9%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,196.6  (13.4%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,823.8  (11.1%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  986.0  (6.0%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.4  (0.3%)   
Write-In 2  Chart color  3.1  (0.0%)   
Write-In 6  Chart color  2.1  (0.0%)   
Write-In 4  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)  Defeated
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Write-In 4) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 5

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,259.4  (13.8%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,105.9  (12.9%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,278.0  (13.9%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,196.6  (13.4%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,823.8  (11.1%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  986.0  (6.0%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.4  (0.3%)   
Write-In 2  Chart color  3.1  (0.0%)   
Write-In 6  Chart color  2.1  (0.0%)  Defeated
None of these  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Write-In 6) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 6

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,259.4  (13.8%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,105.9  (12.9%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,278.2  (13.9%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,196.6  (13.4%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,824.8  (11.1%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  987.0  (6.0%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.4  (0.3%)   
Write-In 2  Chart color  3.1  (0.0%)  Defeated
None of these  Chart color  1.0  (0.0%)   
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Write-In 2) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 7

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,340.9  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,341.0  (14.3%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,259.4  (13.8%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,105.9  (12.9%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,278.2  (13.9%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,196.6  (13.4%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,824.8  (11.1%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  987.0  (6.0%)   
Write-In 1  Chart color  48.4  (0.3%)  Defeated
None of these  Chart color  4.0  (0.0%)   
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Write-In 1) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 8

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,342.0  (14.3%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,342.2  (14.3%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,260.4  (13.8%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,115.9  (12.9%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,282.2  (13.9%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,199.6  (13.4%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,829.8  (11.2%)   
Stead, Charles  Chart color  991.0  (6.1%)  Defeated
None of these  Chart color  23.0  (0.1%)   
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Stead, Charles) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 9

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,362.3  (14.5%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,356.6  (14.5%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,383.6  (14.7%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,210.9  (13.6%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,508.8  (15.4%)  Elected
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,454.2  (15.1%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  1,975.7  (12.2%)   
None of these  Chart color  134.0  (0.8%)   
Pie chart

Simmons, Denise has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 10

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,362.3  (14.5%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,356.6  (14.5%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,383.6  (14.7%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,305.6  (14.2%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,321.7  (14.3%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,454.2  (15.1%)  Elected
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  2,068.1  (12.7%)   
None of these  Chart color  134.0  (0.8%)   
Pie chart

Harris, Robin has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 11

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,362.3  (14.5%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,356.6  (14.5%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,383.6  (14.7%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,366.2  (14.6%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,321.7  (14.3%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,321.7  (14.3%)   
Fantini, Alfred B.  Chart color  2,140.0  (13.2%)  Defeated
None of these  Chart color  134.0  (0.8%)   
Pie chart

The last-place candidate (Fantini, Alfred B.) is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate are counted toward their next highest ranking.

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 12

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,495.9  (15.6%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,498.1  (15.6%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,955.6  (18.5%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  3,066.2  (19.2%)  Elected
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,496.4  (15.6%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,463.9  (15.4%)   
None of these  Chart color  410.0  (2.6%)   
Pie chart

Grassi, Joseph has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 13

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,554.6  (16.0%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,594.9  (16.2%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,955.6  (18.5%)  Elected
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,644.2  (16.6%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,564.1  (16.0%)   
None of these  Chart color  410.0  (2.6%)   
Pie chart

Maher, David P. has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 14

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,614.9  (16.4%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,712.4  (17.0%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,717.7  (17.0%)  Elected
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,605.7  (16.3%)   
None of these  Chart color  410.0  (2.6%)   
Pie chart

Simmons, Denise has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 15

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,645.0  (16.6%)   
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,712.4  (17.0%)  Elected
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,630.7  (16.5%)   
None of these  Chart color  410.0  (2.6%)   
Pie chart

Segat, Susana has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 16

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,683.4  (16.8%)  Elected
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)   
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,641.9  (16.5%)   
None of these  Chart color  410.0  (2.6%)   
Pie chart

Turkel, Alice has enough votes to guarantee victory (14.3%) and is declared a winner.To ensure that everyone's vote counts equally, votes that exceed that threshold are counted toward their next highest ranking (this is actually done by counting a fraction of ballots cast for the winning candidate).

Go to the next round.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Round 17

Legend
Candidate Votes Status
Turkel, Alice  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)  Elected
Segat, Susana  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)  Elected
Maher, David P.  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)  Elected
Grassi, Joseph  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)  Elected
Simmons, Denise  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)  Elected
Harris, Robin  Chart color  2,662.7  (16.7%)  Elected
None of these  Chart color  410.0  (2.6%)   
Pie chart

At this point, the number of remaining candidates equals the number of remaining seats, so the remaining candidates are declared elected.

In the end, 97.5% of all cast ballots counted toward a winner. This compares to 82.9% if only the first-round votes were used. You should be able to see that the winners have a more equal mandate in the final round than in the first round.

Note that even the "highest first-round votes" method is more democratic than most methods used in US public elections: the "vote for 6" method, which allows the largest block of voters to dominate, and the district method, where choices are restricted to the one or two viable candidates within geographical boundaries drawn by the politicians in office.

Also, view the Ballot Depth info to see how much lower rankings contributed to the tally.
















 

DemoChoice Web Poll: Cambridge, MA 1997 School Committee Election

6 candidates will be elected with 16,386 ballots cast.


Ballot Depth

This shows how much the lower rankings on ballots contributed to the winning candidates.

Rank Fraction of votes for winners
1st    81.8% 
2nd    12.3% 
3rd    3.9% 
4th    1.1% 
5th    0.5% 
6th    0.2% 
7th    0.1% 
Pie chart