voting systems that uses voters’ ranking by order of preference to determine single or multiple winners from candidates/options
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) systems where candidates receive points based on their rank/position in each ballot, highest points wins
e.g. 3 points for 1st choice/position, 2 points for 2nd, 1 for 3rd
varying weights/points assigned to each position by different positional voting systems, which can heavily affect the final rank ordering of candidates
Instant-runoff voting
ranked-vote voting method that recursively eliminates the plurality loser until one candidate has majority of remaining votes
Borda count
classic positional voting system
N candidates
1st position candidate each on ballet gets N points, 2nd gets N-1, …, Nth position gets 1 point
any uniform difference in points has same result
Top-heavy
systems for assigning points with more focus on how many voters consider a candidate a “favourite” (highly ranked)
Plurality voting
plurality — choose one
first-preference plurality (first-past-the-post) systems only let voters select one candidate and most votes wins, even without a majority
the 1st choice receives 1 point and all other candidates receive 0
the most top-heavy positional voting system
Geometric
points follow a mathematical sequence or geometric progression
e.g. 1st choice gets 1 point, 2nd gets 1/2 points, 3rd gets 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc.
Eurovision Song Contest
uses system where 1st choice gets 12 points, 2nd 10 points, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, remaining get 0
Cardinal voting
voting systems that allow voters to define their strength of support for a candidate
each candidate gets a separate score
Score/Range voting
voters give each candidate a numeric score, highest average score wins
e.g. score each candidate from 0 (worst) to 9 (best)
Approval voting
simplest scoring method where votes approve (+1) any number of candidates, most votes wins
Latvia uses modified version where voters can give positive (+1), negative (-1), or 0 to any number of candidates
STAR
Score Then Automatic Runoff
hybrid of score and ranked voting
voters score each candidate from 0 (worst) to 5 (best)
2 highest total candidates become finalists
finalist with higher preference across all voters wins
Condorcet/Round-robin voting
every pair of candidates is 1-on-1 compared by total number of voters that prefer each candidate in a “beats” matrix
lit. record which candidates beat each other candidate in 1-on-1
majority-preferred (Condorcet) candidate is elected, if one exists
Condorcet winner - candidate that beats all other candidates in a 1-on-1
if no Condorcet winner, candidate closest to being Condorcet wins, based on record in beats matrix
