How e dey work, well well
Each voter tick as many option as dem want — none, one, or all. Each tick na one point; dem add am up.
Di ballot no ask for ranking: na just line between wetin di voter accept and wetin dem reject. Dat easy thinking na di main argument of di method.
One big thing: tactical voting disappear, because to support your favourite no dey stop you from supporting di compromise too. To talk true about your preference no fit hurt you again.
Example wey get figures
Hundred people tick everything wey okay for dem.
| Option | Approvals | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Bordeaux | 72 | 72 % |
| Lyon | 58 | 58 % |
| Lille | 41 | 41 % |
- Plenty of di 40 Lyon supporters tick Bordeaux too.
- Bordeaux gather 72 approvals: na di place wey most people accept.
- Di total pass 100 % — e normal: na approvals dem dey count, no be exclusive votes.
Approval dey measure how acceptable something be, no be excitement. For decision wey di whole group go live with, na often di correct question.
Where e come from
Approval voting get old papa: Venice Republic dey use am from di 13th century for some stages of picking di Doge, and several religious orders dey use am to pick dia leaders.
Di modern formal work na 1978: Steven Brams and Peter Fishburn publish « Approval Voting » for di American Political Science Review, and e become di method wey dem study pass for di American revival of social choice theory.
Today several learned societies dey use am (including IEEE and di American Mathematical Society), di UN Security Council dey use am for straw polls to pick Secretary-General, and since 2018 na so Fargo (North Dakota) dey run municipal elections, with St. Louis (Missouri) joining for 2020.
Where dem dey use am
- To pick date, place or restaurant: plenty answers fit work.
- To shortlist applications before interview.
- Municipal elections for Fargo and St. Louis, internal IEEE votes.
- Prevalence surveys, where you dey look for wetin common pass wetin come first.
Limits and wahala
- Very simple
- E favour agreement options
- No tactical voting
- E no rank preference
- E dey depend on each voter threshold
- People no dey use am, dem no sabi am
Questions wey people dey ask
How many options make I tick?
Every one wey you go truly gree with. Di strongest strategy na to tick everything wey you prefer pass di result wey you think go happen.
Total wey pass 100 %, e normal?
Yes. Dem no dey share hundred votes: dem dey count, for each option, how many people accept am. Read di percentages option by option.
Approval or majority judgment?
Approval na one click and e dey answer « e acceptable? ». Majority judgment ask for one grade per option and e dey answer « how good e be? ». Start with approval; move go grades when di fine differences really matter.