Approval Voting 101

When you enter the polling booth, you can only vote for one candidate.
But only being able to vote for one candidate causes lots of problems:

You feel forced to vote for who you think can win instead of your favorite.
Winning candidates often don’t represent a broad base of voters.
The system is dominated by two parties, leaving no room for new ideas to break through.

Our elections don’t have to be like this!
The Solution: Approval Voting

With approval voting, you can vote for all the candidates you want. The candidate with the most votes wins. It’s as simple as that!

The graphic shows a simple approval voting. The ballot language reads "Vote for ALL the candidates you approve of." The candidate list includes Elizabeth Education, Jim Jobs, Helen Healthcare, Peter Pollution, and Tina Taxes. The voter has checked the boxes for Elizabeth, Jim, and Helen.

Approval voting is a simple tweak that offers enormous benefits:

Be excited to vote for your favorite, instead of the one most likely to win.
Enjoy newer ideas, newer candidates, and fewer attacks.
Elect the best possible candidate that represents the most Americans.

Want to Take a Deeper Dive?

Check out some of the other articles on our website to learn more about the problems with our current system, the benefits of approval voting, and how it compares to other popular methods:

What is Approval Voting?
Top 5 Fails of Plurality Voting
Getting Proportional with Approval Voting
Ten Critiques (and Defenses) of Approval Voting
Approval Voting vs. Ranked Choice Voting
The Limits of Ranked Choice Voting

Take Action to Fix the Broken System

Changing the way we vote isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking. We’ve already empowered voters in Fargo, ND and St. Louis, MO with approval voting. But we need you on board to put approval voting on the map and improve elections across the country! Every voice matters, and we want to hear yours.