Positional Voting
How It Works
In Positional Voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference, and each position on the ballot is assigned a specific point value. For example, in a 5-candidate election, the top-ranked candidate might receive 5 points, the second choice gets 4 points, and so on, down to the last-ranked candidate who would receive just 1 point. The points from each voter’s ranking are then added up for all candidates, and the candidate with the highest total score wins the election.
Best for: Medium-sized polls (5-20 people) with multiple choices, where detailed preferences matter.
Trade-offs
Advantages
- Reflects detailed preferences: It captures not only the voters' top choice but also their preferences for all other options.
- Fairer than single-choice systems: Voters can express support for multiple candidates, reducing the likelihood of strategic voting for just the top choice.
- Encourages more engagement: Voters need to think about their rankings, leading to more informed decisions.
- Can prevent spoilers: Ranking multiple candidates reduces the chances that a third-party or less popular candidate "spoils" the election.
Disadvantages
- More complex to understand: Requires voters to rank all candidates, which can be confusing or time-consuming for casual participants.
- Susceptible to strategic voting: Voters might deliberately rank a weaker candidate higher to push down a stronger rival.
- Points can distort results: The point distribution may not perfectly reflect voter sentiment, as some positions may carry disproportionate weight.
- Challenging to count manually: Ranking and assigning points increases the complexity of counting, making it less suitable for larger groups or informal polls.