CHICAGO ELIMINATED IN FIRST ROUND
– Kathy Bergen and Philip Hersh
Chicago has been eliminated in the first round of International Olympic Committee voting, leaving Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo in the running for the 2016 Summer Games as second-round voting begins.
There were 95 votes in the first round because two members, NHL player Saku Koivu of Finland (currently in preseason training with his new team, the Anaheim Ducks) and Alpha Diallo of Guinea could not make it to Copenhagen.
Others not voting in the first round included the seven members from the countries with candidates (two each from the U.S., Japan and Brazil; one from Spain); Kun Hee Lee of South Korea, who has been suspended pending judicial action involving him in South Korea; and IOC President Jacques Rogge, who does not vote.
As soon as a city is eliminated, members from that country can vote.
Under IOC rules, in case of a tie during a round when only two candidates remain, the IOC president can vote or ask the executive board to break it. There is a runoff in case of a tie between the two lowest vote-getters in an earlier round.
Officials pick out clear plastic balls from a bowl filled with such balls, each with a number, and assign a number to each city for voting purposes. Voting is electronic, a secret ballot. The numbers are No. 8 for Tokyo, No. 9 for Madrid, No. 4 for Chicago and No. 7 for Rio.
