Condorcet winner and pluralism by 51% Is it possible for the winner by pluralism to not be the Condorcer winner, if the winner by pluralism wins by 51%? This assumes 3 or more candidates. Also this assumes a rank and or preferential voting system By 51% I am including rounding, so if you received 50.5% or higher.

If people vote reflecting their preferences (i.e. voting for their first preference candidate) then somebody who gets over 50% of votes would be the Condorcet candidate.

There are other issues: in particular simple plurality systems may discourage some voters from voting for their first preference candidate, and if this happens, then somebody who gets over 50% of votes might not be the Condorcet candidate.

Suppose the distribution of preferences were in three groups:


Voters 1st 2nd 3rd
====== === === ===
49 A C B
48 B C A
3 C B A


The third group might decide to vote for B to stop A from winning (C cannot win a plurality election without votes from the first or second groups), so B might get 51% even though C would be the Condorcet candidate.