EXAMPLE 2 Dummy Voters

In the voting system , the weight-1 voter is a dummy because a motion will pass only if it has the support of the weight-5 and weight-3 voters, and then the additional 1 vote is not needed. For a subtler example, consider a committee with members Andy, Beth, Cathy, and don. They use the weighted voting system . Any two of Andy, Beth, and Cathy have enough votes to pass a motion. don plus one other member have just 51 votes, less than the quota. To pass a motion, don would have to get two of the other members to vote with him. Because the other two members could pass the motion without don, he is a dummy voter.