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Voting styles — five more ways to fill out one 5-star ballot

Bucket — IRV_DIFFERS_ARTIFACT: RCV-IRV differs — tie-break artifact

Generated by STARVote_LH_tabulation_engine/tools_adam/scripts/build_divergence_index.py — rebuilt from the election file; do not hand-edit.

What happens

On these ballots RCV-IRV reports Alice rather than STAR's Clara, but this is an artifact of score→rank conversion, not a robust method difference: 4 of 5 ballots have tied non-zero scores, so their ranks are set by an arbitrary candidate-priority order; the RCV-IRV winner flips when that priority order is reversed. Ranked Robin and the Condorcet (pairwise) winner both agree with STAR (Clara). Do not use this case to criticize RCV-IRV — the disagreement is a coin-flip created by equal scores and would vanish under a different (equally arbitrary) tie-break.

Winners by method

Method Winner
STAR Clara
RCV-IRV Alice
Ranked Robin (RCV-RR) Clara
Approval Clara
Range / Score Clara
Condorcet Clara

Flags: 4 tied-score ballot(s); IRV winner flips under reversed priority (fragile tie); RR conversion-sensitive (weak=Clara, strict=Alice)

Source election: 01_STAR/02_Examples/cases/03d_c5_b5_style-gallery-five-more.yaml · STAR tabulated mirror: 03d_c5_b5_style-gallery-five-more_tabulated.txt

5 candidates, 5 ballots.

The ballots

Each row is a group of identical score ballots (0 = no support, 5 = max).

Count Alice Bruno Clara Diego Erin
1 5 0 5 0 0
1 5 1 5 2 0
1 0 0 5 3 0
1 2 2 3 2 3
1 3 3 3 3 3

STAR result (official)

Scoring round (sum of scores): Clara 21, Alice 15, Diego 10, Bruno 6, Erin 6

Finalists (top two): Clara and Alice

Automatic runoff: Clara 2 vs Alice 0 (3 equal/no-preference)

STAR winner: Clara

Full LH STAR engine report:

--- Runoff (Preference) Matrix ---
Head-to-head / pairwise comparison
Legend: For - Equal Support - Against
        * indicates Top 2 Finalist
               |  * Alice   | * Clara   |
-----------------------------------------
     * Alice > |    ---     |0 - 3 - 2  |
     * Clara > | 2 - 3 - 0  |   ---     |

[Divergence from STAR]
  STAR                   = Clara
  Choose-One (Plurality) = Alice   (differs from STAR)
  RCV-IRV                = Alice   (differs from STAR)
  Note: 4 of 5 ballots (80%) had equal non-zero scores, so their ranks were
        decided by candidate priority order. The RCV-IRV result may be an
        artifact of score-to-rank tie-breaking rather than a deep
        difference.
  Note: Ranked Robin (RCV-RR) agrees with STAR, so RCV-IRV is the lone
        outlier — the classic center-squeeze signature.

--- STAR Voting Method (single winner) ---
 Tabulating 5 ballots.
Alice,Bruno,Clara,Diego,Erin
    5,    0,    5,    0,   0
    5,    1,    5,    2,   0
    -,    -,    5,    3,   -
    2,    2,    3,    2,   3
    3,    3,    3,    3,   3
  ('-' = left blank / abstained; '0' = scored zero — both count as 0 stars.)

[Score Distribution] (how many ballots gave each star rating)
                Score
Candidate  5  4  3  2  1  0  Abs  | Total  Avg all  Avg rated
Alice      2  0  1  1  0  0    1  |    15      3.0        3.8
Bruno      0  0  1  1  1  1    1  |     6      1.2        1.5
Clara      3  0  2  0  0  0    0  |    21      4.2        4.2
Diego      0  0  2  2  0  1    0  |    10      2.0        2.0
Erin       0  0  2  0  0  2    1  |     6      1.2        1.5
  Avg all   = Total / all ballots — a blank counts as 0, so this is the Total the Scoring Round ranks on, per ballot.
  Avg rated = Total / the ballots that scored this candidate (Abs excluded) — support among voters who had an opinion.

Scoring Round
 The two highest-scoring candidates advance to the next round.
   Clara         -- 21 -- First place
   Alice         -- 15 -- Second place
   Diego         -- 10
   Bruno         --  6
   Erin          --  6
 Clara and Alice advance.

Automatic Runoff Round
 The candidate preferred in the most head-to-head matchups wins.
   Clara         -- 2 -- First place
   Alice         -- 0
   Equal Support -- 3
 Clara wins.
   Voters with a preference: 2 of 5 (3 Equal Support).
   Clara 2 (100%) vs Alice 0 (0%); majority = 2.

Winner — STAR Voting Method (single winner)
 Clara

RCV-IRV — round by round

⚠️ This election has a fragile IRV tie (equal scores force an arbitrary tie-break). The round table below is only one realization; a different tie-break can change the winner. See the flag above.

--- RCV / Instant-Runoff Voting (single winner) ---
 Tabulating 5 ballots (converted from score ballots; 0 = unranked, equal scores broken by candidate priority).

Ballots:
   the ranking RCV-IRV reads (0 = unranked, equal scores broken by priority);
   the source score ballot follows in () per column: Alice, Bruno, Clara, Diego, Erin
     1 ×   Alice > Clara      (5, 0, 5, 0, 0)
     1 ×   Alice > Clara > Diego > Bruno      (5, 1, 5, 2, 0)
     1 ×   Clara > Diego      (0, 0, 5, 3, 0)
     1 ×   Clara > Erin > Alice > Bruno > Diego      (2, 2, 3, 2, 3)
     1 ×   Alice > Bruno > Clara > Diego > Erin      (3, 3, 3, 3, 3)

FINAL RESULT
Candidate      Votes  Status
-----------  -------  --------
Alice              3  Elected
Clara              2  Rejected
Diego              0  Rejected
Bruno              0  Rejected
Erin               0  Rejected


Winner(s) — RCV / Instant-Runoff Voting (single winner)
  Alice

--- Smith Set (the generalized Condorcet winner) ---
The smallest group whose every member beats every candidate outside it —
the honest answer to "who is even in contention?".
   Smith set (1 of 5): Clara
   Outside (4):        Alice, Bruno, Diego, Erin
   One member ⇒ Clara is the Condorcet winner, beating every rival head-to-head.
   RCV-IRV winner Alice is OUTSIDE the Smith set. ✗
      Every member of the set (Clara) beats Alice head-to-head, yet
      RCV-IRV elected Alice anyway. RCV-IRV is not Smith-efficient (nor
      Condorcet-efficient) — this is the shape a center squeeze leaves behind.
   More: 07_Concepts/topics/smith_set.md

NOTE: a generated cross-method view of the STAR ballots, for comparison only — not the official STAR result.

Ranked Robin (RCV-RR) — every pair, head-to-head

--- Ranked Robin (RCV-RR / Copeland) Method (single winner) ---
 Tabulating 5 ballots (score ballots).

Ballots:
   the ranking Ranked Robin reads ("=" = tied); source scores follow in () per column: Alice, Bruno, Clara, Diego, Erin
     1 × Alice=Clara > Bruno=Diego=Erin      (5, 0, 5, 0, 0)
     1 × Alice=Clara > Diego > Bruno > Erin      (5, 1, 5, 2, 0)
     1 × Clara > Diego > Alice=Bruno=Erin      (0, 0, 5, 3, 0)
     1 × Clara=Erin > Alice=Bruno=Diego      (2, 2, 3, 2, 3)
     1 × Alice=Bruno=Clara=Diego=Erin      (3, 3, 3, 3, 3)

Round-Robin — every pair, head-to-head (For – Against):
   Alice  beats Bruno   2 – 0
   Clara  beats Alice   2 – 0
   Alice  beats Diego   2 – 1
   Alice  beats Erin    2 – 1
   Clara  beats Bruno   4 – 0
   Diego  beats Bruno   2 – 0
   Bruno  ties  Erin    1 – 1
   Clara  beats Diego   4 – 0
   Clara  beats Erin    3 – 0
   Diego  beats Erin    2 – 1

--- Pairwise (Round-Robin) Matrix ---
Head-to-head / pairwise comparison — the Ranked Robin tally
Legend: For - Equal Support - Against   (row vs column)
          |   Alice   |  Bruno   |  Clara   |  Diego   |  Erin    |
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  Alice > |    ---    |2 - 3 - 0 |0 - 3 - 2 |2 - 2 - 1 |2 - 2 - 1 |
  Bruno > | 0 - 3 - 2 |   ---    |0 - 1 - 4 |0 - 3 - 2 |1 - 3 - 1 |
  Clara > | 2 - 3 - 0 |4 - 1 - 0 |   ---    |4 - 1 - 0 |3 - 2 - 0 |
  Diego > | 1 - 2 - 2 |2 - 3 - 0 |0 - 1 - 4 |   ---    |2 - 2 - 1 |
   Erin > | 1 - 2 - 2 |1 - 3 - 1 |0 - 2 - 3 |1 - 2 - 2 |   ---    |

Win–loss record — Copeland score = wins + ½·ties (highest score wins; ties broken by total margin, then lot order):
    #  Candidate  W–L–T  Copeland  Margin  Beats
    1  Clara      4–0–0         4     +13  Alice, Diego, Erin, Bruno
    2  Alice      3–1–0         3      +2  Diego, Erin, Bruno
    3  Diego      2–2–0         2      -2  Erin, Bruno
    4  Erin       0–3–1       0.5      -5  —
    5  Bruno      0–3–1       0.5      -8  —

Winner — Ranked Robin (RCV-RR): Clara
   beats every opponent head-to-head — the Condorcet winner.

--- Smith Set (the generalized Condorcet winner) ---
The smallest group whose every member beats every candidate outside it —
the honest answer to "who is even in contention?".
   Smith set (1 of 5): Clara
   Outside (4):        Alice, Bruno, Diego, Erin
   One member ⇒ Clara is the Condorcet winner, beating every rival head-to-head.
   Ranked Robin (RCV-RR) winner Clara is INSIDE the Smith set. ✓
      Guaranteed: Ranked Robin (Copeland) is Smith-efficient — every member of
      the set outscores every outsider, so the top of the win–loss table is
      always inside the set, however the tie among them is then broken.
   More: 07_Concepts/topics/smith_set.md