In a community chorus, 10 people are candidates for the board of directors. The board has 6 members: 4 officers (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) and 2 at-large members (who don’t have an office.
The 4 officers have already been chosen. The chorus decides to choose the 2 at- large board members randomly. What is a fair way to do this?
A fair way to choose the 2 at-large board members randomly is to use a random selection method that gives every candidate an equal chance of being chosen. One common method is to use a random number generator or a lottery system.
- Random number generator: Assign a unique number to each candidate and then use a random number generator to select two numbers. The candidates corresponding to those numbers would be chosen as the at-large board members.
- Lottery system: Write the names of all candidates on separate pieces of paper, place them in a container, and then randomly draw two names from the container. The candidates whose names are drawn would be selected as the at-large board members.
Both methods provide an unbiased and fair way to randomly select the at-large board members from the pool of 10 candidates.