Plurality voting
Vote for one option. The option with the most votes wins, even if it receives fewer than half of all votes.
Voting systems
The same people can choose different winners under different counting rules. Choose what your ballot should capture: a favorite, acceptable options, a ranking, or ratings.
Choosing rules for your group? Get help choosing a format during setup.
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Plurality lets you choose one option. Approval lets you choose more than one.
Approval voting
Vote for every option you support. Each selection adds one vote to that option. The option with the most votes wins.
Put options in order
The ballot asks for a favorite, a second choice, and so on. These methods use that order in different ways.
Instant-runoff voting (IRV)
Put the options in order of preference, with your top choice first. Count first choices. If no option has more than half the votes, eliminate the option with the fewest votes. Its ballots move to their next remaining choice. Repeat until a remaining option has a majority.
Borda count
Each position in a ranking earns points. For example, with three options, your first choice gets 2 points, second gets 1, and last gets none. The highest total wins.
Condorcet voting
Rank the options. Those rankings show which option each voter prefers in any pair. An option wins if it beats every alternative in these head-to-head votes. Such a winner does not always exist.
Give each option a score
Rate options from 0 to 5. Unlike a ranking, you can give two options the same score.
Score voting
Give each option a score from 0 to 5, with higher scores for options you like more. Add the scores from everyone’s ballots. The option with the highest total wins.
STAR voting
Give each option a score from 0 to 5. The two highest totals become finalists. Each ballot then counts for the finalist it rated higher, and the finalist with more votes wins.
Choose several winners
Select a fixed number of options while representing different groups of voters.
Single transferable vote (STV)
Fill several places from ranked ballots. Votes can transfer from options with more support than they need, or from eliminated options. This lets different groups of voters contribute to the final selection.