In organizations where voting power is determined by factors like shares, membership levels, or proxies, this split weight voting system allows voters to split their weighted vote across the available choices. Some voters may hold more "weight" based on pre-defined rules from your organization. Splitting weight voting can help manage these scenarios by allowing voters increased flexibility when assign their weights across choices on the ballot.
With split weight voting each voter is assigned a weight in the voter list. This determines how many votes they control. Example: One voter may have a weight of 72, while another has just 1. For more information, please see Voter Options - Weighted Voting.
Setting Up Split Weight
- On the Voters Page, select Weighted Ballots
- Select "Allow voters to split weight between choices - for plurality questions only"
- Choose the Weight Precision of decimal places to be displayed
- In the Voter Information section, add your voter list
- Enter each voter's respective weighting (all voters must have a weight entered)
- Optional: Use a Ballot ID for each voter; learn more at Voter Options: Ballot IDs
Ballot Examples When Splitting
With split weight voting each voter receives the total number of votes equal to their weight multiplied by the maximum number of choices that can be made on the ballot. Example: If there are 2 board positions open, and a voter has a weight of 5, they would have 10 total votes to split.
Important Note: The precision impacts the split calculation. Please see How Results Are Calculated below.
Voters are only able to assign the maximum weight they have per option. Example: Voter A has a weight of 5, and each option can only get a maximum of 5.
Below are a few examples to give you a better understanding of how split-weight voting functions, to ensure you are selecting the right option for your ballot.
Example 1 - Weight of 72 and 1 Maximum Choice
In this example, the question on the ballot only has 1 winning choice. The voter can choose to put all their weight towards one option:
Or, they can select "Split" to assign the weight across the available options:
Example 2 - Weight of 72 and 3 Maximum Choices
In this example, the question on the ballot can have 3 winning choices. The voter can choose to either put all their weight towards 3 candidates:
Or, they can select "Split" to assign their weight across the available options. Voters will not be able to assign more than 72 votes to any option:
Example 3 - Weight of 1 and 1 Maximum Choices
In this example, the question on the ballot only has 1 winning choice. Since the voter has a weight of 1 they do not have the option to split:
Example 4 - Weight of 1 and 3 Maximum Choices
In this example, the question on the ballot only has 3 vacancies. Since the voter has a weight of 1 they do not have the option to split:
Important Note: The precision impacts the split calculation. Please see How Results Are Calculated below.
How Results Are Calculated
When viewing results, ElectionBuddy can show the results with the weights enabled or disabled using the slider below the questions options.
- Shows you the total number of votes cast for each choice
- Tallies the results using the total number of votes cast for each choice
The Vote-by-Vote report will also provide you with the details of the weight and the split.
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