Preferential voting

The term preferential voting (or preference voting) has several different meanings:

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• A ranked ballot or preferential voting system is a type of voting system in which each voter casts their vote by ranking candidates in order of preference. Voting systems which use a ranked ballot include:
• *Borda count
• *Bucklin voting
• *Condorcet methods (including Copeland's method and Schulze method)
• *Coombs' method
• *Instant-runoff voting
• *Single Transferable Vote
• Preferential voting is a synonym for instant-runoff voting, especially in Australia, where such ballots are actually in use in elections. See Australian electoral system.
• In Europe, preferential voting denotes what is in United States known as the Open List Proportional Representation (Open list PR). It is a voting system giving a voter an option to vote for one of the party lists and then also express a preference for one of the candidates of this list.
• Often the term preferential voting is used for any kind of intraparty preference.

Ballot design or voting machine instructions are particularly important in such systems, as each voter is expected to express a rather complex set of tolerances or preferences in each vote.

Related Topics:
Ballot design - Voting machine - Tolerances or preferences - Vote

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Preferential voting: Ballot variations ►