I’ve been in training most of this week, hence the lack of stories, blog posts and tweets. However, I wanted to point out something my editor found earlier this week regarding city elections.
A winner in any of the city of Columbia seats must get more than half of the votes cast. The margin does not have to be “50 percent plus 1.” Could be 50 percent plus .05 (a half vote).
Here’s how a candidate could win by a fraction of a vote, according to the Municipal Association:
“For example, three candidates are running for Mayor. If there are 1,233 total votes cast for this office. Candidate A received 310 votes, candidate B received 617 votes, candidate C received 306 votes. After totaling the votes and dividing by 2, the sum is 616.5. Candidate B would win the election because candidate B received an excess of the majority. Even though the excess is just .5, it is still an excess.”
If no one gets more than half of the votes cast, the top two vote-getters go into a runoff 2 weeks later. This year, that means April 20. The same rules apply to determine a winner.
If the totals are extremely close in a runoff, challenged ballots could make all the difference. Ballots challenged by one campaign or more usually are overwhelmingly “fail-safe” votes. Those are the ballots cast in which the address on a voter’s drivers license does not match the address on voter registration rolls. An energized but mobile student population (from USC, Benedict, Allen and Columbia College), plus a mobile population in a depressed economy, could drive up those numbers this year.
Adam Beam covers the City of Columbia for
One Comment
I would be delighted to see a HUGE number of contested votes if it indicates that students and people hurt by this economy are out voting.