Raft followers wait a blank election timeout (for example 150–300 ms) without hearing from a leader before starting an election, so that usually one node times out first and wins before the others try, which avoids repeated blank.

Answer

Raft followers wait a randomized election timeout (for example 150–300 ms) without hearing from a leader before starting an election, so that usually one node times out first and wins before the others try, which avoids repeated split votes.

Also accepted: random for randomized; split vote, tied elections for split votes.

Why

If every follower used the same timeout, they would all become candidates at once, each vote for itself, and no one would get a majority. The timeout must be well above the time it takes to send a message, or elections happen needlessly.

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