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Jean-Charles de Borda

b. 4 May 1733 Dax, France
d. 20 February 1799 Paris


Borda is known today for his method of election. By this, each voter ranks candidates in order of preference. The winner of the election is the one who is most preferrred. Borda's paper was published in Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences for the year 1781 (1784) pp. 31-–34. We have also La Vie et les Travaux du Chevalier Jean-Charles de Borda (Paris, 1919) by Jean Mascart and Emile Picard. This work mentions that the Borda count was adopted by the Academy of Sciences in its elections around year VI but that it was apparently abandoned under the influence of Bonaparte by year VIII.