Answer to Question #3937 in Statistics and Probability for Nancy Petro

Question

I have a probability question: There are 6 positions available for a council member and there are 13 candidates. About 300 people vote. I know also know there are 4 great candidates, 3 are not strong and 6 are questionable. My question is should I only vote for 4 good candidates or vote for 6 including 2 questionable ones. This is if I only want my four candidates to win.

Answer 1

So we have 4 great candidates& lets mark them s
3 not strong lets mark them m
6 questionable lets mark them l
We have that P(s)>P(m)>P(l)- probabilities to be choosen by random person
300 people vote- 300*4*P(s)+300*3*P(m)+300*6*P(l)=1
“question is should I only vote for 4 good candidates or vote for 6 including 2 questionable ones.”
This depends on probabilities P(s), P(m), P(l).
If& 4*P(s)>3P(m)+3P(l) then you shold vote for 4 good candidates
Another way- vote for 6 including 2 questionable ones