The same 15 people voted, on the same question. Now we look at what each counting method produces. The winner is not always the same: pick a method to see.
🗳️ The vote
The question: Which movie for the team night?
15 people voted between these 4 answers:
The comedy
The action movie
The documentary
The horror movie
💡 Simple majority · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone ticks a single answer, their favourite.
2
How it is counted. We count the votes: the answer with the most wins.
✅ Best for: simple, fast choices when there are few answers. ⚠️ Its weak spot: with many answers, one can win with very few votes, leaving the majority unhappy.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Each ballot counts for one single answer. One pile per answer, then we count:
🏆 The comedy5 votes
The action movie4 votes
The documentary4 votes
The horror movie2 votes
2
The answer with the most votes wins, even without an absolute majority.
🏆
Leading
The comedy
most votes
The winner with this method
The comedy
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Two rounds · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone ranks the answers, from favourite to least liked.
2
How it is counted. The two answers most often on top face off; each ballot goes to whichever of the two it prefers.
✅ Best for: producing a winner that gathers broad support in the runoff. ⚠️ Its weak spot: an answer almost everyone likes can be knocked out in the first round.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
First round. Each ballot counts for its top-ranked answer:
The comedy5 votes
The action movie4 votes
The documentary4 votes
The horror movie2 votes
2
The top two qualify for the runoff: The comedy and The action movie. The others are eliminated.
3
Second round. Each ballot transfers to whichever finalist it ranks higher, even if neither was its first choice:
🏆 The action movie10 votes
The comedy5 votes
🏆
Leading
The action movie
runoff winner
The winner with this method
The action movie
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Instant runoff · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone ranks the answers, from favourite to least liked.
2
How it is counted. The last answer is eliminated each round and its votes slide to the next one, until a majority appears.
✅ Best for: avoiding tactical voting: you can rank your true favourite first with no risk. ⚠️ Its weak spot: the count is harder to follow, and the order of eliminations can be surprising.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Round 1. Each ballot counts for its highest-ranked answer still in the race:
The comedy5 votes
The action movie4 votes
The documentary4 votes
The horror movie2 votes
The horror movie is eliminated: its votes slide to the next answer on each ballot.
2
Round 2. Each ballot counts for its highest-ranked answer still in the race:
The documentary6 votes
The comedy5 votes
The action movie4 votes
The action movie is eliminated: its votes slide to the next answer on each ballot.
3
Round 3. Each ballot counts for its highest-ranked answer still in the race:
🏆 The documentary10 votes
The comedy5 votes
The count stops here: one answer holds a majority of the remaining votes.
🏆
Leading
The documentary
majority after transfers
The winner with this method
The documentary
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Borda (points) · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone ranks the answers, from favourite to least liked.
2
How it is counted. Each rank earns points (top rank the most, last rank zero); the highest total wins.
✅ Best for: rewarding the answer that pretty much everyone likes. ⚠️ Its weak spot: a total can be inflated by ranking rivals dead last.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Each ballot is a full ranking, converted into points. The scale here, from first rank to last: 3 · 2 · 1 · 0.
2
We add up the points from every ballot:
🏆 The action movie31 pts
The documentary29 pts
The comedy22 pts
The horror movie8 pts
3
The highest total wins: an answer that is consistently ranked high can beat one that is often first but often last.
🏆
Leading
The action movie
most points
The winner with this method
The action movie
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Score voting 0 to 5 · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone gives each answer a score from 0 to 5.
2
How it is counted. We average each answer; the best average wins.
✅ Best for: expressing nuance: you say how much you like each answer. ⚠️ Its weak spot: people do not score the same way; some go to extremes, others stay cautious.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Each voter rated every answer from 0 to 5. We compute each average:
🏆 The action movie4.07/5
The documentary3.93/5
The comedy3.47/5
The horror movie2.53/5
2
The best average wins. Point totals: The comedy: 52 · The action movie: 61 · The documentary: 59 · The horror movie: 38.
🏆
Leading
The action movie
best average
The winner with this method
The action movie
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Approval · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone ticks every answer that suits them, as many as they want.
2
How it is counted. We count approvals; the most ticked answer wins.
✅ Best for: quickly finding the answer that upsets the fewest people. ⚠️ Its weak spot: it does not say which one you truly prefer among those you approve.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Each voter ticked every answer they approve of. We count one approval per tick:
🏆 The action movie12 ✓
The documentary10 ✓
The comedy5 ✓
The horror movie3 ✓
2
The most approved answer wins: often the most consensual one.
🏆
Leading
The action movie
most approvals
The winner with this method
The action movie
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Majority judgment · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone gives each answer a grade, from “Very good” to “To reject”.
2
How it is counted. We look at the grade of the middle voter (the median); the best median grade wins.
✅ Best for: resisting extreme votes: the median ignores grades given just to exaggerate. ⚠️ Its weak spot: breaking ties takes a little explaining.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Each voter gave every answer a grade. Here is each answer's grade profile (the highlighted segment holds the median, the grade of the middle voter):
Very goodGoodFairPoorTo reject
Answer
Grade profile
Median
🏆 The action movie
Good
The documentary
Good
The comedy
Fair
The horror movie
Poor
2
The best median grade wins. In case of a tie, the standard tiebreaker compares the share of voters above the median with the share below: the most favourable wins.
🏆
Leading
The action movie
best median grade
The winner with this method
The action movie
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
💡 Condorcet (duels) · how it works
1
How you vote. Everyone ranks the answers, from favourite to least liked.
2
How it is counted. We compare the answers two by two; the one that beats all the others head-to-head wins.
✅ Best for: finding the answer truly preferred to every other, one by one. ⚠️ Its weak spot: sometimes nobody beats everyone: the duels go in circles (a “cycle”), settled by the tiebreaker rule chosen when the poll was created.
🧮 The count, step by step
🗳️ 15 confirmed votes
1
Each ranking answers every head-to-head duel: between two answers, which one is ranked higher? Read each row from left to right: in green, the answers this row beats; in red, the ones that beat it. The "Score" column counts its duels won.
This answer…
vs The comedy
vs The action m...
vs The documentary
vs The horror m...
Score
The comedy
·
5-10
5-10
12-3
1 / 3
🏆 The action movie
10-5
·
9-6
12-3
3 / 3
The documentary
10-5
6-9
·
13-2
2 / 3
The horror movie
3-12
3-12
2-13
·
0 / 3
2
The action movie has its entirely green row, that is 3 wins out of 3: it beats every other answer head-to-head. That is the "Condorcet winner".
🏆
Leading
The action movie
beats every other answer head-to-head
The winner with this method
The action movie
With another method, the result could be different. Change the method above to see how the same group can pick a different winner.
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