The Nation Button Contest

The Nation would like to thank everyone who submitted a button suggestion and voted. By using the Instant Runoff Voting method, it took five rounds for a slogan to win a clear majority of the vote. And the winner, offered by Rick Mumma of New Jersey, is...

Beat Him by More in 2004

The new button will be distributed at the Democratic and Republican conventions along with our new Milton Glaser-designed "Dubya" buttons and old classics (visit The Nation Mart if you would like to purchase a set).

So how did instant runoff voting affect the results? First, it showed that "Beat Him by More in 2004" did not win only because of a split between more popular choices. Of 10,838 ballots, 24 percent chose it as their favorite button slogan - more than any other option, but still far short of majority support. With instant runoff voting, no slogan was a "spoiler" because everyone had the right to express his/her full views by ranking the slogans in order of choice.

With instant runoff voting, a candidate needs to earn a win by having both core support and broad support. This chart shows the results of the rounds of counting that were necessary to find the majority winner. Here is a short round-by-round analysis:

  • First Round: With 24 percent of first choices, "Beat Him by More in 2004" started off with 5 percent more first-choice support than any other slogan. Far behind was "Import Democracy," with only 9 percent first-choice support.
  • Second Round: After "Import Democracy" was eliminated and ballots recounted for the remaining slogans ranked highest on each ballot, the big "mover" was "Exit Strategy - Vote" which was ranked as the next choice on nearly a third of the ballots cast first for "Import Democracy." But "Beat Him by More in 2004" maintained a clear leader. "Security Begins with Peace" was now eliminated as the last-place slogan.
  • Third Round: Backers of "Security Begins with Peace" also disproportionately favored "Exit Strategy - Vote" as their next choice; it again picked up a third of votes. This result eliminated "Kerry Us Back" as the last-place slogan. "Beat Him by More in 2004" maintained the lead, but lost ground to "Know Bush - No Peace."
  • Fourth Round: Backers of "Kerry Us Back" were evenly spread among the three remaining slogans as their next choice, leaving "Exit Strategy - Vote" in last place and set to be eliminated.
  • Fifth Round: "Exit Strategy - Vote" backers slightly favored "Beat Him by More in 2004" over "Know Bush - No Peace, " making the final results 54 percent for "Beat Him by More" to 46 percent for "Know Bush - No Peace."

Of the 10,838 voters, 95 percent ranked either of the two finalists. Of the voters who supported other slogans as their first choice, 538 chose not to rank either of these slogans - reflecting their right to abstain, but forfeiting their opportunity to choose between those final choices.

For more on how instant runoff voting works in elections, see www.fairvote.org/irv