The terms "mathematical elimination" and "mathematically eliminated" mean to be excluded in a decision, based on numerical counts, due to insufficient total numbers, even if all remaining events were 100% in favor. The excluded outcome is considered to be eliminated due to the mathematical probability

Probability

Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...

 being zero (0%).

The term is used in elections when a candidate lacks sufficient votes to win, even if that candidate could garner all remaining votes. In sports, the term "mathematically eliminated"

refers to situations where there are not enough future games or competitive events remaining to be played to avoid defeat, even if all future events were won.

History

The term "mathematically eliminated" has been in use for more than 100 years,
although the meaning has varied. In a 1904 article, in the American Journal of Psychology

American Journal of Psychology

The American Journal of Psychology was the first English-language journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology . AJP was founded by the Johns Hopkins University psychologist Granville Stanley Hall in 1887...

, Volume XV, errors of measurement were described as quantifiable to be "mathematically eliminated" from the analysis of the remaining data.