Defined term

Approval Voting

Approval Voting: An electoral system where each voter may select any number of candidates, and the winner is the candidate approved by the largest number of…

Also known as: equal-and-even cumulative voting

Alternative names:
equal-and-even cumulative votingproportional voting
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Voting

Definition

An electoral system where each voter may select any number of candidates, and the winner is the candidate approved by the largest number of voters. It is distinct from plurality voting, in which a voter may choose only one option among several, whereby the option with the most votes is chosen.

Alternative Definitions

Definition 2

A vote variation used for elections in which each voter may approve of any number of candidates. Typically, the winners are the most-approved candidates.

Source: NIST WebType: semantic
Definition 3

A vote variation used for elections in which each voter may “approve” of (that is, select) any number of candidates. Typically, the winner(s) is the most-approved candidate(s).

Source: NIST Election GlossaryType: standard
Definition 4

A voting method in which a voter may vote for an arbitrary number of candidates (the ones of which she “approves”), the candidate receiving the highest number of votes being the winner.

Source: Electronic Voting GlossaryType: external

Sources

1
Glossary of Election Terms, U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
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2
NIST Election Terminology Glossary, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
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3
EAC Glossary of Terms
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4
EAC Glossary of Election Terms
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5
NIST Election Glossary
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6
Electronic Voting Glossary
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