preferential voting
Ranked-choice electoral system
Preferential voting is an electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting just one.
If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed according to voters' next preferences.
The process repeats until someone achieves a majority.
Also called ranked-choice voting or instant-runoff voting: Australia uses preferential voting for its House of Representatives.
- second choiceFallback option
- democracyRule by the people
- suffrageRight to cast ballots
- fair representationAccurate proportional inclusion
- minority representationPresence of underrepresented groups
constituency · election night · electoral college · mandate · proportional representation · consensus building · representative democracy · elimination rounds · political parties · game theory · gerrymandering · deliberation · prioritization · arbitration · overvoting · negotiation · coalition government · strategic planning
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