You can get elected with less than 50% if and only if enough* of one of your major opponents' supporters have no preference between you and another major opponent.
In other words, you can't get elected with more than 50% of the electorate against you. Which is the point.
*how much is enough is of course dependent on a number of factors, including just how close the election is.
There'll always be some idiots who only vote for a candidate with no chance, whether you include them in the tally as valid exhausted votes or exclude them as invalid votes, and thus whether a very narrow win is 50.1-49.9 or 49.7-49.5 is entirely a matter of definition and has no effect on the result's legitimacy.
Why not simply hold a runoff when no candidate commands majority support of the electorate?
When the number of continuing ballots is reduced to below 50% of the electorate, back up a count and hold a new election with any remaining candidates.
Poll
