What is Approval Voting?

Approval Voting is exactly like the plurality system that is generally used in America today except for one twist: Instead of voting for any single candidate, Approval Voting allows you the option of voting for any number of candidates for a given office. The candidate who collects the most votes wins.

Approval Voting in effect allows you to vote up or down on every candidate in every race. The election results are therefore most easily expressed as an "Approval Rating" for each candidate.

Approval Voting has been used successfully in hundreds of significant elections. Offices selected by Approval Voting include:

• Members of the National Academy of Sciences;
• Officers of scores of Professional Associations including:
  • The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) with over 32,000 members;
  • The Institute of Management Science (TIMS) with over 7,000 members;
  • The American Statistical Association (ASA) with over 15,000 members;
  • The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with over 377,000 members.

The Security Council of the United Nations reportedly followed the Wisnumurti Guidelines to aid the process of selecting the next Secretary General in 1996. These guidelines use a form of Approval Voting to conduct an informal primary. The details of this voting are not known since Security Council proceedings are secret.

In addition, hundreds of elections are conducted each year using Approval Voting in schools and universities around the world. Even though several million people have participated in elections using Approval Voting, it is very rare to hear complaints about the fairness of this form of election.