Downward monotonicity (San Francisco D7 2020) — BEFORE: Melgar wins¶
Generated from sf_d7_downward_before.yaml — do not edit by hand. Regenerate: python STARVote_LH_tabulation_engine/tools_adam/scripts/build_yaml_pages.py.
Method: RCV-IRV (Instant Runoff) · 1 seat · Expected winner: Melgar
Scenario¶
The real 2020 San Francisco Board of Supervisors election, District 7 (seven candidates), reduced to the final three after four candidates are eliminated and their votes transferred — the preference profile from Graham-Squire & McCune, arXiv:2301.12075, Table 2. Counted by RCV-IRV: Engardio leads Round 1 with 14119 first-choices to Melgar's 11652 and Nguyen's 10855. Nguyen is eliminated; his ballots transfer and Melgar wins the final 18561-16370. This is the BEFORE half of a DOWNWARD-monotonicity pair — Engardio LOSES here. In the AFTER file (sf_d7_downward_after), 800 Engardio>Nguyen>Melgar ballots are shifted DOWN to Nguyen>Engardio>Melgar — giving the loser Engardio LESS first-place support — and Engardio then WINS. Ranking a loser lower makes them win: the downward monotonicity paradox. Companion page: downward_monotonicity_sf.md. Model note: the Round-1 three-way counts (14119 / 11652 / 10855) and the final (Melgar 18561, Engardio 16370) reproduce the paper's published figures exactly; Melgar's own second-preference split (not published in the quoted table) is reconstructed to complete the three-way, chosen consistent with the paper's stated AFTER outcome (Engardio wins once Melgar is eliminated).
Ballots¶
Each row is one voter's ranking, most-preferred first (N: prefix = N identical ballots).
13319:Engardio>Melgar>Nguyen
800:Engardio>Nguyen>Melgar
2500:Melgar>Engardio>Nguyen
3500:Melgar>Nguyen>Engardio
5652:Melgar
6909:Nguyen>Melgar>Engardio
2251:Nguyen>Engardio>Melgar
1695:Nguyen
What the engine says¶

Where the votes went. Band thickness is votes; a band leaving an eliminated candidate lands on whoever that ballot ranked next, or on inactive if it ranked nobody who was left.
The count, step by step — the rounds and how the winner is reached:
--- RCV / Instant-Runoff Voting (single winner) ---
Downward monotonicity (San Francisco D7 2020) — BEFORE: Melgar wins
Tabulating 36626 ballots (ranked ballots).
ROUND 1
Candidate Votes Status
----------- ------- --------
Engardio 14119 Hopeful
Melgar 11652 Hopeful
Nguyen 10855 Rejected
FINAL RESULT
Candidate Votes Status
----------- ------- --------
Melgar 18561 Elected
Engardio 16370 Rejected
Nguyen 0 Rejected
Blank Votes 1695 Rejected
Winner(s) — RCV / Instant-Runoff Voting (single winner)
Melgar
Full audit — preference matrix, Condorcet, and score distribution¶
--- 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 3): Melgar
Outside (2): Engardio, Nguyen
One member ⇒ Melgar is the Condorcet winner, beating every rival head-to-head.
RCV-IRV winner Melgar is INSIDE the Smith set. ✓
Not guaranteed — RCV-IRV is not Smith-efficient — but it holds here.
More: 07_Concepts/topics/smith_set.md
Everything in one file: the _tabulated mirror (regenerated on every run; every analysis forced on).
Run it yourself:
python STARVote_LH_tabulation_engine/starvote_larry_hastings.py method_comparisons/monotonicity/cases/sf_d7_downward_before.yaml
See also¶
More cases in this set: alaska_upward_after · alaska_upward_before · mono_raise_delete_after · mono_raise_delete_before · monotonicity_irv_after · monotonicity_irv_before · monotonicity_star_after · monotonicity_star_before · sf_d7_downward_after