Ok as a math teacher I have to ask this

[dsc]

There are 3979 delegates, so why isn't 1990 a majority? Why is 1991 a majority?

[dhol82]

1. Do they have a plus 1 mandate?

[dsc]

3. I don't know

but a majority should be 1990.

[Bev54]

6. Yes

[TwilightZone]

2. It's 50% rounded up + 1

[dsc]

4. but that isn't a majority then

[TwilightZone]

9. It is if you only consider whole numbers

The standard is 50% + 1

No decimals because there are no half-delegates.

3979 / 2 = 1990. (50%)
1990 + 1 - 1991.

Or:

3979 / 2 = 1989.5 (50%)
1989.5 + 1 - 1990.5 --> 1991

Take your pick.

https://www.270towin.com/content/delegates-needed-to-win-2020-democratic-nomination

[Blue_true]

17. Very good reasoning. nt

[IADEMO2004]

12. Correct-a-mundo

[Srkdqltr]

5. Its a majority plus 1

[zipplewrath]

7. Plus one

Most political systems require 50% plus one. 50% in "round numbers" is 1990.

[Celerity]

15. the funny thing is, when the SD's come in, they round DOWN

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/us/politics/democratic-primary-dnc-superdelegates.html

If no one gets 1,991 votes on the first ballot, then things could get more complicated. This is the scenario people refer to when they use the phrase “contested convention” or “brokered convention.”

In this situation, there would be a second ballot. And on the second ballot, there are votes from two sets of delegates:

Votes from the 3,979 pledged delegates, who are allowed to support a different candidate on the second ballot if they so choose

An additional 771 votes from “automatic delegates,” commonly known as superdelegates

To win the nomination, a candidate still must earn a majority of the votes on a given ballot. In this case, that means she or he must amass more than 2,375 pledged and automatic delegates. (In the second and subsequent rounds, a few automatic delegates get only half votes; the D.N.C. says the magic number is 2,375.5, which this time is not rounded up.)

It is theoretically possible that the nomination process would extend through multiple ballots until one candidate hits the magic number (2,375.5) and prevails. One thing to keep in mind is that delegates do not need to stay with the candidate to whom they were originally allocated and can move around.

[TwilightZone]

18. That is interesting.

Concession to Sanders? (kidding, though I shamefully admit that I made myself laugh)

[Hoyt]

8. Think that's odd, some folks think 1400 or so is a majority.

[LAS14]

11. I agree with the OP. This is very strange. Unless 3979 is in error????

A "majority" is 1/2 + 1. In the case of delegates, 1/2 of 3979 is 1989.5. Round up to 1 and you get 1990. I've never heard of requiring 1/2 + 2, which is what you've got with the 1991 requirement. Unless 3979 is in error?????

[TwilightZone]

16. You're on the right track but your math is slightly off.

Majority is 50% + 1.

50% of 3979 is 1989.5, rounded to 1990. (Majority, there are no half-delegates)

1990 + 1 = 1991.

[Blue_true]

13. Good question. The only answer that I can think of is the Threshold + 1. nt

[TwilightZone]

14. Explanation here:

The standard is 50% + 1

No decimals because there are no half-delegates.

3979 / 2 = 1990. (50%)
1990 + 1 - 1991.

Or:

3979 / 2 = 1989.5 (50%)
1989.5 + 1 - 1990.5 --> 1991

Take your pick.

https://www.270towin.com/content/delegates-needed-to-win-2020-democratic-nomination

Note: added to the main thread just so everyone sees it.

[dsc]

19. I find this baffling

I mean, I get they set a standard, but this standard isn't a majority. If one has 1990 delegates, one has over half, which is what a majority means. To be fair, it is highly unlikely to matter but still this is just weird.

[TwilightZone]

20. There can't be a half-delegate in any step of the process.

The standard is 50% + 1, in whole numbers only for both parts of the equation.

I think we agree that 50% isn't a majority, therefore:

1989.5 isn't a majority, because it's 50%.

Since we can't have 0.5 delegate, 1989.5 = 1990. Step 1.

Put another way, because 1989.5 isn't a majority and 1989.5 = 1990, 1990 is still not a majority because we have to round up before we add the +1, again because there can't be a 0.5 leftover in Step 1.

A = 1989.5
B = 1990
C = 50%

A = B, A = C, so B = C, and none are a majority.

1990 + 1 = 1991. Step 2.

However you want to calculate that, it's always going to be 1991 unless you round down.