the borda count tends to favor candidates supported by a broad consensus among voters, rather than the candidate who is necessarily the favorite of a majority; for this reason, its supporters see the borda count as a method that promotes unity and avoids the 'tyranny of the majority', and the resulting divisiveness and even violence that it can lead to. advocates argue, for example, that where the majority candidate is strongly opposed by a large minority of the electorate, the borda winner may have higher overall utility than the majority winner. on grounds such as these, the de borda institute of northern ireland advocates the use of a form of referendum based on the borda count in divided societies such as northern ireland, the balkans and kashmir.