Dowdall method
The Dowdall method is a point ranking method in which each ranking corresponds to 1/ranking. It is currently only used in Nauru. It tends to give more weight to higher preferences than the Borda count.
Example
Imagine that Tennessee is having an election on the location of its capital. The population of Tennessee is concentrated around its four major cities, which are spread throughout the state. For this example, suppose that the entire electorate lives in these four cities, and that everyone wants to live as near the capital as possible.
The candidates for the capital are:
- Memphis, the state's largest city, with 42% of the voters, but located far from the other cities
- Nashville, with 26% of the voters, near the center of Tennessee
- Knoxville, with 17% of the voters
- Chattanooga, with 15% of the voters
The preferences of the voters would be divided like this:
| 42% of voters (close to Memphis) |
26% of voters (close to Nashville) |
15% of voters (close to Chattanooga) |
17% of voters (close to Knoxville) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
This translates into the following point table
Voters Candidate
|
Memphis | Nashville | Knoxville | Chattanooga | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | 42×1=42 | 26×1/4 = 6.5 | 17×1/4 = 4.25 | 15×1/4 = 3.75 | 56.5 | |
| Nashville | 42×1/2 = 21 | 26×1 = 26 | 17×1/3 = 5.6667... | 15×1/3 = 5 | 57.667... | |
| Knoxville | 42×1/4 = 10.5 | 26×1/3 = 8.333... | 17×1 = 17 | 15×1/2 = 7.5 | 43.667... | |
| Chattanooga | 42×1/3 = 14 | 26×1/2 = 13 | 17×1/2 = 8.5 | 15×1 = 15 | 50.5 |
Nashville has the most points, and is elected winner.