The elections in San Francisco last fall highlighted once again the thorny issue of how votes are counted, with the poll results being counted on that occasion using the ranked-choice system. Is that the best method? On the face of it, you’d expect mathematics to provide the answer, as it does on so many occasions. Unfortunately, when it comes to the democratic process, the one thing mathematicians are sure of is there is no perfect method. Dr. Keith Devlin, Executive Director, H-STAR Institute, Stanford University, and "the Math Guy" on National Public Radio, will explain some of the flaws of all the systems.
