SOLUTION: Five candidates, Ruben, Bong, Angel, Louie and Melvin were nominated for president in the College Student Council. After the polls close, ranked ballots were tallied, and the resul

Question 1184942: Five candidates, Ruben, Bong, Angel, Louie and Melvin were nominated for president in the College Student Council. After the polls close, ranked ballots were tallied, and the results are summarized below. Determine the winner and what percent of the votes did the winner receive?
Rankings
Ruben 1 2 5 5 2 3 4
Bong 2 3 2 4 3 2 5
Angel 4 4 1 2 1 1 3
Louie 3 1 3 3 4 5 2
Melvin 5 5 4 1 5 4 1
Number of votes 10 7 12 16 11 4 10

Answer by CPhill(2189) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
To determine the winner, we will use a ranked-choice voting system, commonly known as **Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)** or the **Borda Count method**. Let's clarify the approach:
### **Step 1: Identify the Voting Method**
Since you didn't specify the method, I'll outline two possible approaches:
1. **Plurality Method** (First-Past-The-Post): The candidate with the most first-choice votes wins.
2. **Borda Count Method**: Candidates are given points based on their rankings, and the candidate with the highest total score wins.
I'll first determine the winner using the **Plurality Method** (most first-choice votes).
---
### **Step 2: Count First-Choice Votes**
The number of first-place rankings is:
- **Ruben:** 10 votes
- **Bong:** 0 votes
- **Angel:** 12 votes
- **Louie:** 7 votes
- **Melvin:** 16 votes
### **Step 3: Determine the Winner**
The candidate with the highest first-choice votes is **Melvin**, with **16 votes**.
---
### **Step 4: Calculate the Percentage of Votes**
Total votes = \(10 + 7 + 12 + 16 + 11 + 4 + 10 = 70\)
Melvin's percentage of votes:
\[
\frac{16}{70} \times 100 = 22.86\%
\]
### **Conclusion**
- **Winner:** **Melvin**
- **Percentage of Votes:** **22.86%**
If you'd like me to determine the winner using another method (such as **Borda Count** or **Instant Runoff**), let me know!
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