Somerville Journal remedial math

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

Today's issue of the Somerville Journal has an article titled "Mayor Joe re-elected by 77%".  An early online version of this article (http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x481177780) also cites the 77% number:
"Curtatone won by a whopping 77 percent over first-time candidate Suzanne Bremer, a Tufts librarian. The unofficial tally placed him with 7,897 votes over Bremer’s 1,825."

Now, I'm no rocket scientist, but I do remember learning percents in 5th grade or so.  If you add 7,897 and 1,825 you get 9722.  Curtatone's  percentage of that would be 7897/9722, or 81.2%.  Bremer would have 1825/9722, or 18.8%.   81.2 minus 18.8 is 62.4%, so you would say Curtatone won by 62.4%.   

Even with the unofficial tally changing slightly as it becomes official, how do you get 77% anywhere in those numbers?  The Somerville Journal seems to make stuff up with impunity.  Not that the Somerville News has higher standards, but now that their editor is on the School Board at least he will be exposed to people with an education.  

Comments

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Maybe write-in votes account for the difference?

[fanw.livejournal.com]

They mean he won with 77% of all voters. That is, he got 8012 votes (I'm using their results page (http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/election%20totals%20NOV%207.pdf) here), she got 1832, there were 90 write-ins and 489 people who did not vote for mayor but voted for other offices. All in all, he got just under 77% of all people who voted.

Not bad for a sweep!

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

I guess this could explain the 77%, which begs the question of whether anyone at the Somerville Journal understands the difference between winning BY a margin vs. winning WITH a total.

[fanw.livejournal.com]

Yup! I think the Somerville Journal can add and subtract but doesn't know grammar!

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

Bad math explained (or at least my best guess for someone can get get 77%)

1,825/7,897 = 23.11% (Bremer / Curtatone)

100 - 23.11 % = 76.89 (100 - (Bremer / Curtatone))

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

Given what fanw says I think her explanation is more likely.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

I am not sure which is more likely, but it is interesting that both lead to 77%. Both are wrong, so it is hard to know what faulty logic or grammar motivated the published 77% figure.

[ron_newman]

I don't see what's "wrong" about fanw's math, or the Journal's. Curtatone got 8012 votes. Bremer got 1832, write-ins got 90, and there were 489 blank ballots.

8012/(8012+1832+90+489) = 8012/10423 = 76.87% which rounds to 77%.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

No, their math is fine, but neither is a correct way of calculating "winning by 77%." The first is a calculation of the ratio of one candidates total votes to the other candidate's total votes, the other is a calculation of the percentage of votes received by a candidate (if you include voters who did not vote for mayor). Good calculations, different problems.

[ron_newman]

My guess is that you are not accounting for either write-in votes or blanks. There are always a few of each in any election.

[ron_newman]

now that their editor is on the School Board at least he will be exposed to people with an education.

LOL

Wrong paper

[wobblymusic.livejournal.com]

It's the Somerville News' editor that got elected to the school board, not the Somerville Journal's.

Re: Wrong paper

[ron_newman]

I know that, and so does jspazzer. My seconding of his sentiment still stands.

Re: Wrong paper

[wobblymusic.livejournal.com]

Whoops! Misread the original post...

[bgum.livejournal.com]

The Journal also states that Lafuente lost by 21 votes, but the subtracting his votes from Desmonds shows he lost by 12.

[ron_newman]

The city's unofficial results say 4834 for Desmond, 4796 for Lafuente, a difference of 38 votes. This is also what the Journal says on both page 1 and page 14. Where did you get your figures?

[bgum.livejournal.com]

The Somerville News online: "Desmond received 4791 votes and Lafuente received 4779 votes."

The story in the Journal I was thinking of was this: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x1375676824 which doesn't refer to tallies.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I think it's a word-choice mistake, not a math mistake. Curtatone got 77 percent, mas/menos, of the total vote (including write-ins and blanks), so the headline should have read "Mayor Joe re-elected with 77%".