Rehearse Preference Transfers Without Inventing an Elimination Tie-Break — Free
A preference ballot is not a static first-choice total. Follow its next remaining choice through a roundbook, and stop visibly where an unspecified tie-break would otherwise decide the outcome.
The proof surface
Quorum and cast-vote denominators do not transfer preference ballots across elimination rounds or stop rather than invent a tie-break rule.
InputBallot code | candidate codes in preference order, separated by >; maximum tally rounds to inspect
Rare deviceQuorum and cast-vote denominators do not transfer preference ballots across elimination rounds or stop rather than invent a tie-break rule.
Output artifactPreference tally rounds calculated plus complete labeled working
Cost$0 local core · no account, card, paid key or subscription · filing proposal has no checkout
Sample, not your facts: Invented records: Maple ballot | Alder > Birch > Cedar; Oak ballot | Alder > Cedar > Birch; Pine ballot | Birch > Cedar > Alder; Willow ballot | Cedar > Birch > Alder; Ash ballot | Cedar > Alder > Birch. Maximum tally rounds to inspect = 20; expected Preference tally rounds calculated: 2 tally rounds. These are not quotations, verified observations or personal evidence.
Before using the preference-transfer roundbook
This is a rehearsal of one single-winner elimination rule for an informal club, not an official election system or legal interpretation. Candidate codes are the union of codes appearing anywhere in the entered preferences, matched case-insensitively. The model does not know candidates omitted from every ballot, eligibility, quorum, vote authenticity or a governing rule. A strict majority means more than half of currently active, non-exhausted ballots. If none has it, eliminate only a uniquely lowest candidate. Tied-lowest eliminations require a human rule and stop the model. Keep real ballots in the group’s approved private process; all examples here are fictional.
Why the flat version breaks
A tied minimum is broken by incidental sorting
Alphabetical order and source-row order are display choices, not legitimate voting rules. An implementation that eliminates whichever tied name happens to come first can decide a result without approval. This rehearsal refuses that branch. Both tied counts and the missing rule are printed, leaving the next step with the responsible group.
The majority denominator never changes
A ballot listing only eliminated candidates is exhausted under this model. It remains part of the original entered set but not the current active majority denominator. Hiding exhaustion makes a later majority look mysterious, while using the original count answers a different rule. The roundbook prints both original and active/exhausted counts rather than silently changing what majority means.
A round limit is mistaken for a winner
Stopping after the maximum rounds is a partial inspection result, even if one candidate leads. The tool does not assign a win by plurality when its majority rule has not been met. No authentic ballot, legal eligibility or governing document is verified. Have the secretary confirm the real process and source votes before interpreting any scenario as an actual group decision.
How to work the preference-transfer roundbook
Document the exact rehearsal rule
Confirm that the group wants a single-winner, strict active-ballot majority simulation with unique-lowest elimination and no automatic tie-break. This may not match your bylaws or actual electoral method. Use each fictional ballot code once and list preferences in order with greater-than separators. Each candidate code may appear at most once per ballot. Codes use letters, digits, spaces, underscores or hyphens; spelling differences beyond letter case create different candidates.
Keep the ballot list and candidate universe visible
Up to 200 ballots and 25 candidate codes are accepted. A truncated preference is allowed: it can become exhausted when no listed candidate remains. An empty ballot or repeated candidate on one ballot is rejected rather than repaired. The setting caps tally rounds from one to 25. A low cap is an inspection limit, not a rule declaring the current leader the winner. Candidate-universe and original-ballot counts remain in the result context.
Tally, transfer and update the denominator
In each round give each ballot to its first remaining preference. Report every remaining candidate, active ballots and exhausted ballots. If one count is greater than half the active total, record the model’s majority result. Otherwise identify the minimum count: eliminate it only if unique, then retally from the original preferences. Stop on a tied minimum, an unavailable active denominator or the entered round cap. The headline counts rounds, while row values count ballots; they are not interchangeable units.
Read the stop condition before using a rehearsal
Inspect all counts and transfers with a responsible secretary or election organizer. A partial roundbook explicitly lacks a model outcome, and a simulated majority is not a certified real result. Resolve candidate omissions, ballot validity and actual tie rules in the authoritative process. Copying or filing the roundbook preserves the stop reason and boundary. Do not share actual preference data publicly, and do not treat a browser-local history summary as a tamper-evident voting record.
What the preference-transfer roundbook keeps distinct
Question
Before
Check this working
A tied minimum is broken by incidental sorting
Alphabetical order and source-row order are display choices, not legitimate voting rules. An implementation that eliminates whichever tied name happens to come first can decide a result without approval. This rehearsal refuses that branch. Both tied counts and the missing rule are printed, leaving the next step with the responsible group.
Keep the ballot list and candidate universe visible
The majority denominator never changes
A ballot listing only eliminated candidates is exhausted under this model. It remains part of the original entered set but not the current active majority denominator. Hiding exhaustion makes a later majority look mysterious, while using the original count answers a different rule. The roundbook prints both original and active/exhausted counts rather than silently changing what majority means.
Tally, transfer and update the denominator
A round limit is mistaken for a winner
Stopping after the maximum rounds is a partial inspection result, even if one candidate leads. The tool does not assign a win by plurality when its majority rule has not been met. No authentic ballot, legal eligibility or governing document is verified. Have the secretary confirm the real process and source votes before interpreting any scenario as an actual group decision.
Read the stop condition before using a rehearsal
The preference-transfer roundbook replaces this named manual reconciliation, not source verification or the responsible human's decision.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
HYPOTHESIS / PROTOTYPE — checkout unavailable. Calculation is local. A draft is saved automatically in this browser profile when storage is available; Reset to sample clears it. Optional Pro history stores only five summaries and has its own deletion control. State links encode your inputs and can remain in browser history, clipboard or recipients’ records; share only non-sensitive rows. Optional external AI formatting leaves this device. The required site analytics beacon reports page activity; shared URLs contain encoded inputs. Do not treat an encoded URL as private. The calculator has no input-collection endpoint.
Informal rule rehearsal only: no official tally, vote authentication, legal advice or certified election outcome. Verify candidate universe, ballots, governing rules and ties with the responsible secretary or election organizer; keep real votes in an approved private process.
Data note: This preference-transfer roundbook calculates in the tab from Ballot code | candidate codes in preference order, separated by >. No input-collection endpoint, AI request or file upload is built into it. Drafts may be saved locally; explicit input-state links and optional external formatting can disclose the records. Use non-sensitive codes and clear the draft when finished.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a climbing rung ladder
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the preference-transfer roundbook reading, and holds your drafts on this device — one complete free app run; the proposed $4 one-time filing layer is not for sale.
Keep the complete preference-transfer roundbook answer free; optional filing proposes its boundary-preserving print, row-and-summary CSV and five local reading summaries. The $4 one-time prototype is not for sale; another calculation remains free in the article demo.
Informal rule rehearsal only: no official tally, vote authentication, legal advice or certified election outcome. Verify candidate universe, ballots, governing rules and ties with the responsible secretary or election organizer; keep real votes in an approved private process.
What this is built on
Declared local method: In each round give each ballot to its first remaining preference. Report every remaining candidate, active ballots and exhausted ballots. If one count is greater than half the active total, record the model’s majority result. Otherwise identify the minimum count: eliminate it only if unique, then retally from the original preferences. Stop on a tied minimum, an unavailable active denominator or the entered round cap. The headline counts rounds, while row values count ballots; they are not interchangeable units.
Every sample code, measurement, date, price, fingerprint and scenario is invented. Artifact checks do not verify reader data, policies, actual files, tickets, votes or health/accessibility outcomes.
Google’s official Gemini pricing page, fetched 2026-10-01, lists AI Studio access in its Free section, limited model access and free input/output tokens. Free-tier content may be used to improve products. Optional external formatting may require an account; limits/access can change. Manual local entry needs none. Do not send sensitive records.
Before: first choices looked like the whole decision. After: transfers, exhaustion and missing tie rules are visible in a round-by-round rehearsal without an invented elimination.
Three worked readings, with different inputs
Sample A — typical inputs
Maple ballot | Alder > Birch > Cedar
Oak ballot | Alder > Cedar > Birch
Pine ballot | Birch > Cedar > Alder
Willow ballot | Cedar > Birch > Alder
Ash ballot | Cedar > Alder > Birch
Setting: Maximum tally rounds to inspect = 20. Expected summary: 2 tally rounds.
The first round counts Alder two, Birch one and Cedar two, with five active ballots. No candidate exceeds half. Birch is the unique lowest and is eliminated; its ballot transfers to Cedar. Round two counts Alder two and Cedar three, so Cedar exceeds half of the five active ballots under this rehearsal rule. The result is two tally rounds, with both rounds’ counts visible; it is not an official election certification.
Sample B — changed plan
Harbor first | Alder
Harbor second | Alder
Harbor third | Alder
Orchard first | Birch > Alder
Orchard second | Birch > Alder
Spruce only | Cedar
Setting: Maximum tally rounds to inspect = 20. Expected summary: 2 tally rounds.
Round one has Alder three, Birch two and Cedar one among six active ballots. Three is exactly half, not a strict majority. Eliminating Cedar exhausts its single-choice ballot. Round two has five active ballots: Alder’s three now exceed half. The denominator changes because a ballot has no remaining preference, not because it was deleted from the source. Exhausted count remains visible beside the round.
Sample C — boundary convention
East ballot | Alder > Birch
West ballot | Birch > Alder
Setting: Maximum tally rounds to inspect = 20. Expected summary: 1 tally rounds.
The first round is tied one to one. Neither candidate has a strict majority, and the lowest tally is tied. The tool stops after one round with a partial/review result rather than choosing an elimination by alphabet, input order or chance. The responsible group must use its pre-agreed rule and authoritative ballot process; this app supplies no default tie-break.
Optional AI formatting, never the calculation
Manual entry completes this preference-transfer roundbook for free without signup. If available to you, the free AI Studio interface linked in the sources may format fictional or non-sensitive notes; external access may require an account. No API key or AI call is built into this tool. Free-tier content may be used to improve products. Review each cell and transcribe it to the labeled row schema; do not paste the JSON object into the row box.
Format only these fictional or non-sensitive notes for a preference-transfer roundbook. Return strict JSON shaped as {"rows": [{"label": "string", "cells": ["string"]}], "setting": "string"}. The columns are Ballot code | candidate codes in preference order, separated by >; the setting is Maximum tally rounds to inspect. Keep all supplied strings and quantities exactly; do not calculate, infer missing entries, invent dates or add advice. If any required value is missing, return an empty rows array and ask me for it separately. I will verify every cell against my source and manually transcribe rows using vertical bars before running the local calculator.
An AI response is not executed, fetched or trusted as a result. Missing values remain questions; the strict local parser checks the rows you actually enter.