Voting Systems and Methods

ElectionBuddy supports a variety of voting systems to help meet the requirements of many organizations. The voting system determines the voter's experience and the result tallying methods. If you're having trouble determining what voting systems will work best for your ballot, please consult you...

Plurality voting, or first-past-the-post, is a voting system that selects the winning candidate based on which candidate has the most votes. It is a simple and familiar system to many voters. How the Results are Calculated Multiple Candidates for 1 Vacancy The candidate, or options, with the h...

Here is an overview of Preferential voting, also known as ranked voting, instant run-off voting, or ranked-choice voting. Voting Process Voters rank the candidates in order of preference, with “1” being the highest (most preferred) ranking. For example, if there are 3 candidates, the voter choo...

An organization's bylaws and rules may dictate what voting method must be used or are looking for a voting system to best present winners according to the voter population's overall preferences by using a Ranked Choice method, such as Preferential Voting. Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a subs...

Approval voting is where each voter approves any or all of the candidates during an election. When voting, each voter can vote for any combination of candidates and allocate one or zero votes to each candidate during the voting process. This gives each of the candidates fair representation and a ...

An organization might choose to use the Scored Voting method to allow voters to have more nuance in the expression of their preferences as it better reflects the intensity of a voter's support for multiple candidates or options. Voting Process Voters assign a score to each available choice. Unl...

Nomination Voting can be utilized to transparently select the most suitable candidates or options and encourage voter participation. Voting Process Announcements are run before a vote, as they are meant to announce the upcoming vote to your voters and capture nominations. Instead of voters choo...

Cumulative Voting is a voting system that gives minority shareholders more power to influence the outcome of an election and elect their preferred candidate. Cumulative voting is typically used by organizations voting for business directors or board positions. Voters are assigned a set number of...

Organizations may allow their members to vote with a power based on shares, split their votes between candidates to enhance competition or account for Direct Proxies. These are just as in a few use cases of the voting method. Cumulative voting is a system that allows participants to allocate mult...

Condorcet voting is a method that can capture more nuanced voter preferences compared to simpler methods like Plurality Voting, where candidates can win without a majority of support. It is commonly used for single-winner elections with one vacancy to fill. The method is designed to determine th...

A Borda Count uses the ranking of candidate preferences to assign a score to each candidate. The scores for each vote are summed and the choice or choices with the highest total scores are declared as winners. Learn more about the Borda Count method. How to Run and Tally a Borda Count Vote usi...

Organizations may want to allow their voters to submit an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are a way to allow voters, who are unable or unwilling to vote during the official voting period or at the official polling station, to submit an absentee ballot. The use of absentee ballots can effectivel...