But the thinking behind the use of the word in this context is also instructive.
You have to remember that IRV is nothing more than a convenient method of
condensing an exhaustive ballot into one voting operation. (It also avoids all
the horse-trading that typically takes place between the successive rounds of an
exhaustive ballot, but that's a different issue.)
Some have argued that this "horse trading" allows compromise candidates to stave off defeat.
See my comment above. Whatever other defects it may have, IRV does ensure that
the winner has the support of half or more of those who are voting at the point
when the final decision is made.
The winner does have "the support of half or more of those who are voting", but only over the remaining candidates. You can't overstate the significance of that. Good candidates, candidates who have more support by any reasonable measure, can be discarded by IRV before a final decision is made. Here's just such a "nightmare" example:
10% FarRight>Right>Centrist>Left>FarLeft 10% Right>FarRight>Centrist>Left>FarLeft 15% Right>Centrist>FarRight>Left>FarLeft 16% Centrist>Right>Left>FarRight>FarLeft 15% Centrist>Left>Right>FarLeft>FarRight 13% Left>Centrist>FarLeft>Right>FarRight 11% Left>FarLeft>Centrist>Right>FarRight 10% FarLeft>Left>Centrist>Right>FarRight
"Centrist" has the most first place votes, the most second place votes, and the most third place votes. Also, centrist is never ranked fourth or fifth on any ballot. In any non-probabalistic election method except for IRV, centrist wins in a landslide. But in IRV, centrist is eliminated in the third runoff, and Right beats left 51-49.
The results won't usually be that blatantly undemocratic, of course, but the fact remains that the best candidate by most reasonable measures can be eliminated early in an IRV election. Claiming that the winner has majority support, without adding the caveat that that support only applies vis-a-vis the remaining candidates, deems like a distortion of the truth to me.
-Adam
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