U.S. Presidential Elections Survivor - 1860 IS THE SURVIVOR !

[Antonio the Sixth]

1896

[Antonio the Sixth]

1896 : 6
1960 : 2
1912 : 1
1968 : 1

1896 is out

Round 48 begins. Rules are unchanged.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1912

[Antonio the Sixth]

1968

Please, tell me you didn't vote out 1968. What the hell do you have all with the 1912 lovefest. It was a great election, but all the four remaining are. 1912 was the least close and competitive of the four.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, I can't even organize a runoff because there is a tie among the runner ups (2 to 1960 and 1912).

Also, I will be unable to do anything for tomorrow and tuesday (exams).

[Antonio the Sixth]

Who do we need a "runoff"? I mean, 1968 clearly has more votes than anyone else....

Absolute majority rule. I've explained that in previous round.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Alright guys, the runoff starts. Vote to eliminate one election between 1960 and 1968. The election with the most votes will be out.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1960

And for once I 100% agree with Fab. 1968 was an epic election from the beginning to the end : anti-Vietnam protests, the Kennedy-McCarthy fight, RFK assassination, the riots during democratic convention, and all this ending in a dramatically close election... The result of course wasn't the one I'd have wished, but despite that it's my current pick for survivor.
Of course, vox populi, vox dei...

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, there is a tie !

I'm giving around one hour if someone wants to break it, otherwise I'll proceed to count the votes in previous rounds.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, when I said "about one hour" I meant "about one hour plus the time to watch the portugal-Spain match".

1960 : 4 (runoff : 6)
1968 : 4 (runoff : 6)
1912 : 2
1860 : 1

And after one of the closest and most exciting rounds we have ever seen... 1960 has got 3 votes in previous rounds, compared to only 1 for 1968 (the group phase isn't counted since 1960 didn't take part to it).

So...

1960 is out

Round 49 begins. Rules are unchanged.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1912, duh

[Antonio the Sixth]

1912 : 7
1968 : 4

1912 is out

And now it's time for the final round ! No special rule for this round, just a simple vote. Let's go : Choose between 1860 and 1968 !

[Antonio the Sixth]

Sorry, but...

Eliminate 1860

1968 for survivor

[Antonio the Sixth]

Sorry, but...

Eliminate 1860

1968 for survivor

Are you willing to explain?

Both elctions are epic of course. But after all, 1860 wasn't close at all, and as MRK pointed out, Lincoln would have won even if Douglas, Breckinridge and Bell summed their votes. 1968 was exceptiptionally rich in event, totally unpredictable (there could be hundreds of timelines starting in 1968 with different PODs). Eventually, it caused the start of the conservative movement (with its "law and order"/"silent majority" and and anti "hippie librulz" rhetoric). In this way, it had a considerable (though very negative) impact on American politics.

[Antonio the Sixth]

And now, Ladies and Gentlement, the final round's results !

1860 for survivor : 10
1968 for survivor : 3

1968 is out

And with a 76.9% majority, with an unseen turnout of 13 votes, we can now announce that...

1860 is the Survivor !

Congratulations to the winner ! Congratulations to Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John C. Breckinridge and John Bell for their partecipation to what the Atlas Forum Community judged to be the Best US Presidential Election !

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, guys, before we leave this and let this topic die, I'd like to know a last thing.

First of all, I'd like to know if you liked this survivor, and, if you want, to give me some advises about what I should change/not change.

Then, you can, if you wish, give me your ideal top 5 (with elections ranked from 1 t 5). Yeah, I know you already did, but now you cann pick all the elections. Give us the 5 elections you'd most have wanted to win at the beginning of the survivor !

[Antonio the Sixth]

Wel, yeah, the 100 points rule sucks and I won't use it anymore, even though it could have been more interesting with less 80/90% votes.

As for the groups, of course I'm going t disclose it now !

The groups formation is based on the results of the results of the Special round (the one when you had to give your top 5). But to rank each election, I used, instead of approval voting (each election in the top 5 gets one point), the Borda method (ie giving 5 points to an election when it's in the first place, 4 points when it's in the second, etc...). The results were :
1968 : 21
1912 : 20
1960 : 18
1932 : 16
1980 : 12
1948 : 12
1824 : 8
1896 : 7
2008 : 7
1992 : 6
1796 : 5
1976 : 3

Based on these results, I created four pots of three elections each.

Pot 1 (favorite elections)
1968
1912
1932

Pot 2 (apreciated elections)
1948
1980
1824

Pot 3 (poorly apreciated elections)
1896
2008
1992

Pot 4 (least favorite elections)
1796
1976
1884

Each group had to consist in one election from each pot, in oder to make it fairly balanced. So I made those groups :

Group 1
1968 (from pot 1)
1980 (from pot 2)
1992 (from pot 3)
1976 (from pot 4)

Group 2
1912 (from pot 1)
1948 (from pot 2)
2008 (from pot 3)
1796 (from pot 4)

Group 3
1932 (from pot 1)
1824 (from pot 2)
1896 (from pot 3)
1884 (from pot 4)

My main criterion to put determinate elections from different pots in the same group was mainly chronological coherence. Thus, I grouped most of recent-times elections in the group 1 (having to choose, from pot 3, between 1992 and 2008, I chose 1992 because it was closer to 1980 and the others), the oldest in group 3 (I could have put 1912 instead of 1932, but, to be honest, my goal was to get both 1932 and 1948 qualified for the top 5 - as a result they were both eleiminated ), and the remaining in the group 2.