Undecided voters

What this voter-transition interview question tests

This is a medium-difficulty puzzle that probes your ability to model a dynamic system over many time steps. Rather than requiring heavy computation, it rewards candidates who recognize the underlying structure: a Markov chain converging to a steady state.

The question presents a realistic scenario—voters shifting between parties according to fixed transition rates—and asks you to predict the long-term outcome. To solve it, candidates typically set up a recurrence relation or transition matrix, then either compute a few iterations to spot a pattern, or reason about equilibrium directly. The key insight is that after enough years, the system stabilizes regardless of initial conditions.

• Markov chains and transition matrices
• Steady-state (equilibrium) analysis
• Convergence rates and long-term behaviour
• Flow balance at equilibrium