Approval voting is a single-winner voting system used for elections. Each voter may vote for (or 'approve' of) as many of the candidates as the voter wishes. The winner is the candidate receiving the most votes. Each voter may vote for any combination of candidates and may give each candidate at most one vote. Approval voting treats each candidate as an essentially separate question, "Do you approve of this person for the job?" Each voter may cast one vote per candidate, either for or against, and whoever receives the most 'Yes' votes wins.
The system was described in 1976 by Guy Ottewell and also by Robert J. Weber, who coined the term "approval voting." It was more fully published in 1978 by political scientist Steven Brams and mathematician Peter Fishburn.
Read more about Approval Voting: Theory, Uses, Effect On Elections, Compliance With Voting System Criteria, Other Issues and Comparisons, Multiple Winners, Ballot Types
Famous quotes containing the words approval and/or voting:
“I am thankful to God for this approval of the people. But while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over any one.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)