If the vote has been conducted using ranked ballots, you might ask the question, “does a majority prefer candidate X to Y, or vice versa?”
To answer this question, you would go through the ballots counting the total number who rank X above Y, and the total who rank Y above X. These tests are called pairwise, because they look at candidates two at a time. If one candidate gets a pairwise victory against every other candidate, this is the Condorcet winner. For example 45 A B C 20 B C A 35 C B A 45 rank A higher than B. 55 rank B higher than A. So, B has a pairwise victory (or majority) against A. 65 rank B higher than C. 35 rank C higher than B. So, B has a pairwise victory (or majority) against C. Since B has a pairwise victory against every other candidate, he is the Condorcet Winner. All the methods listed as meeting the Condorcet Criterion will always pick the Condorcet Winner if one exists.
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