Approval Voting
Voters can select as many candidates as they approve of, and the candidate with the most approvals wins.
Updated April 23, 2026
How It Works in Practice
Approval voting is a straightforward yet powerful electoral system. Instead of choosing just one candidate, voters can select (or "approve") as many candidates as they like on the ballot. Each candidate who receives an approval from a voter earns one point, and after votes are tallied, the candidate with the highest total approvals wins the election. This system allows voters to express support for multiple candidates without ranking them or limiting themselves to a single choice.
Why It Matters
Approval voting addresses some common problems in traditional single-choice voting systems, such as the "spoiler effect," where a candidate similar to a voter's favorite splits the vote, enabling a less-preferred candidate to win. By allowing multiple approvals, voters can support their preferred candidate while also endorsing other acceptable candidates, potentially reducing strategic voting and encouraging more honest expression of preferences. This can lead to election outcomes that better reflect the overall will of the electorate.
Approval Voting vs. Other Voting Methods
Approval voting differs from plurality voting, where only one candidate can be selected, and from ranked-choice voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference. Unlike ranked-choice systems, approval voting does not require voters to order their preferences, making it simpler to understand and administer. Compared to cumulative voting, where voters allocate multiple votes to a candidate, approval voting treats each approval equally without weighting.
Real-World Examples
Approval voting has been used in various organizational elections and pilot programs. For instance, the city of Fargo, North Dakota, adopted approval voting for its municipal elections starting in 2020, marking one of the first uses of this system in a U.S. public election. Additionally, some professional societies and private organizations use approval voting for board or committee elections, finding it effective at capturing consensus support.
Common Misconceptions
A common misconception is that approval voting encourages voters to approve all candidates, which would make the system meaningless. In reality, strategic voters tend to approve only those candidates they find acceptable or competitive, not every candidate on the ballot. Another misunderstanding is that approval voting is the same as ranking candidates; however, approval voting does not capture preference order, only approval or disapproval.
Benefits and Challenges
Approval voting can promote more civil campaigns, as candidates seek to be acceptable to a broader range of voters rather than just their base. It can also simplify ballots and counting procedures compared to ranked-choice systems. However, some critics argue it may still allow strategic voting and does not provide as nuanced a picture of voter preferences as ranked systems do. Nonetheless, it remains a compelling alternative in the quest to improve democratic elections.
Example
In 2018, Fargo, North Dakota became the first U.S. city to implement approval voting in its municipal elections, aiming to improve voter expression and election outcomes.