GED Math for Elections…Practice Question

Okay, I’m all about the GED. But I got to know about this election stuff that’s going on. So to figure out some GED math about elections, I sent you to this website called The Mathematics of Voting, to learn more about math and voting.

Here’s an example of a vote between three things that the guy gives:

Suppose a family decides to vote on a place to visit on vacation. Dad loves the mountains but hates the beach (too sandy!). He would enjoy Disneyland (but not as much as the mountains). Mom loves the beach but hates the mountains (too many steep trails to climb!). She would enjoy Disneyland (but not as much as the beach). Alice loves the beach but hates the mountains (just like Mom!). She also would enjoy Disneyland (but not as much as the beach). Tommy loves Disneyland more than anything else! He can’t stand the mountains (boring!) or the beach (too hot!)

If everyone votes for their favorite, the BEACH will get 2 votes (Mom and Alice), the MOUNTAINS will get 1 vote (Dad), and DISNEYLAND will get 1 vote (Tommy). So, the BEACH wins!

Is the BEACH really the best choice for the family vacation? Think about it. Half of the family members (Dad and Tommy) hate the beach. Should the family really go to a spot that half of the family hates? Is there a better choice? Look back at the preferences of each family member and see if you can suggest a ‘better’ vacation spot. Is ‘the most first place votes wins’ method really the best method here?

Weird, huh? I mean, you never thought voting was really complicated… everyone votes for one guy, and then the guy with the most votes wins. What about this example? Here’s a GED practice question to think about:

If everyone votes for a first and second choice, how many votes would there be for each choice?

If everyone votes either FOR or AGAINST each vacation choice, how many for and against votes would each choice get?

Think about it… and then think about why the different ways of voting get different results. Hey, is our voting really the best way? I mean, we’ve got this whole process to narrow down choices to two… does it work? Does it give us the best president? Man, I don’t know, and it ain’t on the GED, but you gotta think about it!

To find out more about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at passGED.com.