Stagnant elections

For example, in the 2000 Presidential election, Ralph Nader—a left-leaning, third-party candidate—took enough votes away from Democrat Al Gore that George W. Bush won the election. But that election is hardly an anomaly. According to William Poundstone, author of Gaming the Vote, at least five of our presidential elections have resulted in the second most popular candidate being elected. And that’s just presidential elections.