The Iowa Caucuses. (See Attached Page Below) B R C T R B R R C C B C T T T B

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1 Date: 9/27/2016 The Iowa Caucuses Part I: Research the Iowa Caucuses and explain how they work. Your response should be a one-page (250-word) narrative. Be sure to include a brief history, how a caucus differs from a typical primary election, and why the Iowa Caucuses play such an important role in American presidential elections. (See Attached Page Below) Part II: Imagine you live in Mason City, Iowa and attend a Republican caucus for Precinct W1- P2 at the Highland Golf Course. The meeting organizers ask the voters to select their preferences for four candidates. The following preference schedule summarizes the results of the poll. # voters 2nd 3rd 4th B R C T R B R R C C B C T T T B B is Jeb Bush, C is Ted Cruz, R is Marco Rubio, and T is Donald Trump Use this preference schedule to answer the following questions about various voting methods. Vocabulary words in bold are defined in the Voting Theory section in Math in Society. i. How many people voted? 100 votes Part II: (Continued)

2 ii. Who wins by Plurality Method? Trump iii. Suppose we use Instant Runoff Voting. Remove the candidate with the least Choice votes and show the preference schedule. # Voters 2 nd 3 rd B B C T C C B C T T T B iv. Remove the candidate with the least Choice votes and show the preference schedule. # Voter 2nd C C C T T T T C v. Who wins by Instant Runoff Voting? Cruz is the winner vi. Calculate a Borda Count for each candidate. B: 205 C: 272 R: 306 T: 217 vii. Who wins by Borda Count? Rubio viii. How many points does each candidate get using Copeland's Method? Part II: (Continued) B: 1 Point C: 2 points R: 3 Points T: 0 point

3 ix. Who wins by Copeland's Method? Rubio x. Is there a Condorcet Candidate? Y xi. If so, who is the Condorcet Candidate? Rubio Part III: Imagine that the members of your group are selected as the delegates from Precinct W1-P2 and you must agree on one candidate to support at the Cerro Gordo County Convention. Write a one-page (250-word) discussion explaining who won the election. The discussion should include your interpretation of your calculations in Part II and which fairness criteria helped you choose a winner. There is no right answer (see Arrow's Impossibility Theorem). As a group it is your job to make a decision and defend that decision in your discussion. (See Attached Page Below)

4 Part I answered The Iowa Caucuses work by party registration with Democrat or Republican. The registered party members will congregate together on February 1 st where they are given the opportunity to choose their desired Candidate. All Candidates will be given time to speak on their own agenda and why the registered party members should vote for them. The Democratic nomination will have registered party members divided into individual groups for their selected Candidate. A Candidate may be considered non-viable by having less than 15 percent of the total vote. Once the party members have settled on their Candidate, they may try to convince undecided party members, other Candidates members, and any member that selected a non-viable Candidate into changing their vote. The Republican nomination is selected by registered party members with hand raises or by anonymous ballets, with the method being determined beforehand. The Republican caucus does not have a 15 percent threshold on viable Candidates. Though it has been disputed where the origin of the word Caucus came to first use, there is a passage from John Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts diary entry giving mention of the word back in A Caucus may only be attended by registered party members and is a method of sorting delegates. Primaries welcome those who are not currently registered party members, however, some primaries may require precipitants to disclose their party affiliation or be registered to a party. The Iowa Caucuses are the first of many scheduled Caucuses throughout the United States. Since Iowa hosts the first Caucus, it sets the tone for stronger Candidate support. Depending on the winner of this caucus, it may sway many future voters.

5 Part III answered Out of the voting methods employed and the calculations put into place to account for the votes, the winner of the election is Marco Rubio, due to winning the majority of these methods. Although Trump and Cruz pulled wins in the plurality method and the instant runoff voting, Rubio s win by the Copeland Method proves he is preferred overall in every one to one comparison. This final decision rests on the fact Marco Rubio wins over the greater number of voters through the more powerful methods that compare every candidate. Adding up Rubio s Borda Count numbers reveals a strong outcome after being more than 30 counts above the second place Borda Count Candidate, Ted Cruz. Since Rubio is also the Condorcet Candidate on top of his dominated voting methods, this offers further proof he has the most compelling grip on the voters, regardless of the outcome any other method put to use could result in. The reality of this election could not be more in favor for Rubio since he met two out of the four fairness criteria. When all four candidates remain in the preference schedule, Rubio commands the most potent lead by receiving the majority of votes within the voting methods accounting for everything and everyone. Instant runoff voting eliminates candidates until the very end, which can offer an unfair advantage to the candidate who would not have had a chance when compared to each individual running in the election. For the election to result in the most fair of outcomes, choosing Marco Rubio as the winner is the most justified response. After dominating within the results and being the Condorcet Candidate throughout the entire election, in the end, Marco Rubio s votes reveal he is the most preferred candidate.