June 23, 2026 · 7 min read
Voting Methods Explained: Ranked Choice, FPTP and More
A plain-English tour of voting methods: first-past-the-post, ranked choice, approval and score voting, what each is good at, and which suits an online vote.
How you count votes changes who wins. Picking a voting method is really about one question: *do you want the single most popular option, or the option most people can live with?* Here are the methods that matter for an online vote, in plain English. For the practical setup, see the online voting guide.
First-past-the-post (single choice)
Everyone picks one option; the option with the most votes wins. It's simple, instant, and what people expect, perfect for a quick decision in a meeting or event. The catch: with many options, a winner can emerge with well under half the vote, splitting the room.
Where should we hold the team offsite?
Ranked choice (instant runoff)
Voters rank the options. If no option has a majority, the lowest is eliminated and its votes flow to each voter's next choice, repeating until something crosses 50%. The result is a winner most people are okay with, great for higher-stakes decisions. The cost: it's more to explain and takes longer.
Approval voting
Voters tick every option they'd be happy with (as many as they like) and the most-approved option wins. It's almost as simple as first-past-the-post but avoids vote-splitting, which makes it a sweet spot for online group decisions.
Score (range) voting
Voters rate each option on a scale (say 1-5); the highest average wins. It captures intensity of preference (useful when 'somewhat like' and 'love' should count differently), but averages can be gamed by strategic min/max scoring.
Which should you use?
- Quick, low-stakes decision? First-past-the-post (single choice).
- Several options and you want a consensus winner? Ranked choice or approval.
- Care how strongly people feel? Score voting (a 1-5 scale).
- Sensitive or contested? Whatever you pick, keep it anonymous and close the vote to lock it.
PollsLive supports single choice, ranking, scales, and multi-select so you can match the method to the moment, live on a screen or async over a link, with no voter login. Common scenarios in live voting for nonprofits & AGMs.
Tip
Match the method to the decision: ranked choice for priorities, yes/no for motions, scale for sentiment.
Run your next vote with the online voting guide.
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