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If former Del. Joe Morrissey wins the Richmond mayoral race today, there’s a decent chance he will have done so without winning the popular vote.

That’s because, under the strong-mayor form of government adopted by Richmond voters in 2004, the city’s mayor is chosen not by who wins the most votes citywide, but by who wins the most votes in at least five of the city’s nine council districts.

The fragmented nature of this year’s crowded contest, combined with an uneven number of voters across districts, puts into play a number of never-before-seen election-night outcomes.

Among the possibilities:

1. Joe Morrissey wins five districts, making him mayor, but Jack Berry wins the popular vote.

Morrissey’s support is strongest in the districts with the fewest number of registered voters: The four majority-African-American districts Morrissey is most likely to win on election night — 6, 7, 8 and 9 — have roughly the same number of voters as the three majority-white districts where Jack Berry is most likely to win — 1, 2 and 4.

On top of that, polls have shown Berry performing better in his core districts than Morrissey does in his.