You may have a position with more than one vacancy, and more than one candidate running for the vacancies. This is common in elections for board members, or for any other position that has a group of people with a shared job in an organization. ElectionBuddy allows you to set up a ballot question for these situations quickly and easily.
Setting Up
From the window that appears, or by selecting the + Add position or question button, select "Multiple candidates for 2 or more vacancies — eg. vote for 3 of 5 directors"
Enter the ballot question title, and names of your candidates, and then set the number of available vacancies. If you outline more vacancies than you have candidates, Write-Ins will be automatically enabled.
Add any Candidate Profiles (optional), and adjust any Settings for the ballot as required. Example: Random Order, Ask for Comments, Allow Abstain, or Write-Ins.
"Exactly" versus "Up To"
You can specify whether you want your voters to select the "Exact" number of candidates as there are vacancies, or if you want them to choose candidates "Up To" the number of vacancies.
With "Exactly" selected, voters are required to select exactly the same number of candidates as there are vacancies to submit their ballot. For example, if you set up your ballot for voters to select exactly 3 of 5 candidates, voters must select 3 candidates.
With "Up To" selected, voters choose any number of candidates to vote for, up to the number of open vacancies for the position, to submit their ballot. For example, if you set up your ballot for voters to select up to 3 of 5 candidates, then voters can select up to 3 candidates. They could successfully submit their ballot with only one candidate chosen.
Here is an example ballot with 3 of 5 candidates selected, and the voters select exactly.
Alternative Voting Systems
Your ballot does not necessarily have to be a Plurality question when you have multiple candidates for multiple vacancies. Plurality is the most common option, but depending on your bylaws, you may be required to set this up in another way.
Below are other voting systems that work with multiple vacancies and candidates.
Preferential- Also known as Instant Runoff Voting or Ranked-Choice Voting.
Cumulative - Also known as multi-voting, dot-voting, or split voting.
To use one of these alternative voting systems, select the drop-down menu on the Ballot Question and select the voting system you like from the drop-down options.
ElectionBuddy offers multiple voting systems to meet your voting needs. To be sure that you're picking the right one for your vote, this article will compare and contrast some of our voting systems to help guide you to the right choice. - Please see Choosing the Right Voting System