Virginia Administrative Code › Title 1 - ADMINISTRATION › Agency 20 - STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS › Chapter 100 - RANKED CHOICE VOTING › Section 1VAC20-100-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Active ballot" means a ballot that counts toward an active
				  candidate in the current round of counting.
"Active candidate" means a candidate or person who has not
				  been defeated during a round-by-round vote count. In a count that lasts
				  multiple rounds, the number of active candidates will decrease with each
				  round.
"Duplicate ranking" means a voter has assigned one candidate
				  multiple rankings.
"Election threshold" means the number of votes sufficient for
				  a candidate to be elected in a multi-winner, single transferable vote contest,
				  except in the first-choice ranking tabulation round. The election threshold
				  equals the total valid votes cast for active candidates in the first round of
				  tabulation, pursuant to
				  1VAC20-100-50 C, divided by the sum
				  of one plus the number of offices to be filled, then adding one, disregarding
				  any fractions. Election threshold = ((Total valid votes cast for active
				  candidates in the first round)/(Seats to be elected+1))+1, with any fraction
				  disregarded.
"First-choice ranking tabulation round" means the stage of
				  tabulation of first-choice rankings completed at each precinct on the voting
				  system, pursuant to
				  1VAC20-100-50 A.
"Highest-ranked active candidate" means the active candidate
				  assigned to a higher ranking than any other active candidates.
"Inactive ballot" means a ballot that can no longer be
				  counted due to the ballot having no rankings remaining for active
				  candidates.
"Instant runoff voting" means no more than one seat in the
				  office must be filled by the election.
"Maximum possible threshold" means the number of first-choice
				  rankings from active ballots received in the first-choice ranking tabulation
				  round sufficient for a candidate to be elected. The maximum possible threshold
				  equals the total ballots cast for the office, including valid first-choice
				  rankings, undervotes, skipped rankings, or overvotes for the office, divided by
				  the sum of one plus the number of offices to be filled, then adding one,
				  disregarding any fractions. Maximum possible threshold = ((Total ballots cast
				  for the office)/(Seats to be elected+1))+1, with any fraction
				  disregarded.
"Ranked choice overvote" means a voter assigned more than one
				  candidate the same ranking.
"Ranked choice undervote" means a voter has left a ranking
				  unassigned.
"Ranked choice voting" means a method of casting and
				  tabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference;
				  (ii) tabulation of first-choice rankings and votes cast at other rankings is
				  conducted; (iii) if the number of candidates elected after first-choice ranking
				  tabulation is less than the number of offices to be filled, tabulation proceeds
				  in rounds such that in each round either a candidate is elected or the
				  last-place candidate is defeated; (iv) votes for voters' next-ranked candidates
				  are transferred from elected or defeated candidates; and (v) tabulation ends
				  when the number of candidates elected equals the number of offices to be
				  filled. Ranked choice voting is known as "instant runoff voting" when electing
				  a single office and "single transferable vote" when electing multiple
				  offices.
"Ranking" means the ordinal number assigned on a ballot to a
				  candidate to express the voter's preference for that candidate. Ranking number
				  one is the highest ranking, ranking number two is the next-highest ranking, and
				  so on, consecutively, up to the number of candidates indicated on the
				  ballot.
"Round" means a stage of the vote tabulation, pursuant to
				  1VAC20-100-50 B or C, in which a
				  person may be elected or the last ranked person defeated.
"Single transferable vote" means more than one seat in the
				  office must be filled by the election.
"Skipped ranking" means an undervote on a ballot where a
				  voter validly ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking treated as provided in
				  subdivision 2 of
				  1VAC20-100-40.
"Surplus fraction" is a number equal to the quotient of the
				  difference between an elected candidate's vote total and the election
				  threshold, divided by the candidate's vote total, (or (V-T)/V, in which "V" is
				  the elected candidate's vote total and "T" is the election threshold),
				  truncated after four decimal places.
"Surplus vote" means the number of votes a candidate receives
				  beyond the election threshold set for a single transferable vote race.
"Tabulation" means the counting and, where necessary,
				  transferring of votes cast in a ranked choice voting election that occurs in
				  two stages:
1. Determination by voting
				system in the first-choice ranking tabulation round of first-choice ranking
				votes cast for each candidate and the creation of a record of votes cast at all
				ranking choices for each ballot cast.
2. Determination in a round, using the record
				of votes cast created by the voting system in the first-choice ranking
				tabulation round, of the votes to be transferred from eliminated candidates to
				active candidates, of the vote totals for active candidates after vote
				transfers, and of whether a candidate has received the number of votes
				sufficient to be elected.
"Transfer value" means the proportion of a vote that a ballot
				  will contribute to its highest-ranked active candidate. Each ballot begins with
				  a transfer value of one. If a ballot contributes to the election of a candidate
				  under 1VAC20-100-50 C, it receives a new
				  transfer value.
Statutory Authority: § 24.2-673.1 of the Code of
					 Virginia.