the borda count was developed independently several times, as early as 1435 by nicholas of cusa, but is named for the 18th-century french mathematician and naval engineer jean-charles de borda, who devised the system in 1770. it is currently used to elect members of the parliament of nauru and two ethnic minority members of the national assembly of slovenia, in modified forms to determine which candidates are elected to the party list seats in icelandic parliamentary elections, and for selecting presidential election candidates in kiribati. until the early 1970s, a variant was used in finland to select individual candidates within party lists. it is also used throughout the world by various private organizations and competitions.