What Is Approval Voting? Complete Guide

What Is Approval Voting?

Approval voting is an electoral method in which voters can select -- or "approve" -- as many candidates as they want on the ballot. There is no ranking, no scoring, and no limit on the number of approvals a voter can give. Once all votes are cast, the candidate with the most total approvals wins. It is widely regarded as the simplest alternative voting method available today.

Unlike traditional single-choice voting (where you pick exactly one candidate) or ranked-choice voting (where you order candidates from first to last), approval voting asks a single straightforward question for each candidate: "Do you approve of this person for the role?" Voters simply check the box next to every candidate they find acceptable. No strategy, no overthinking -- just honest approvals.

Approval voting was first formally studied by mathematician Guy Ottewell in 1977 and later popularized by political scientists Steven Brams and Peter Fishburn. It has since been adopted by professional organizations like the Mathematical Association of America, the American Mathematical Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for their internal elections. More recently, it was adopted for municipal elections in Fargo, North Dakota (2018) and St. Louis, Missouri (2020).

The Core Idea

With approval voting, you are not choosing your single favorite. You are answering "yes" or "no" for every candidate on the ballot. This means you can support your true favorite and any acceptable alternatives without penalty. The candidate with the broadest support wins.

A Quick Example

Imagine a club election with four candidates -- Alice, Bob, Carol, and David -- and 10 voters. Each voter checks off every candidate they approve of:

Voter	Alice	Bob	Carol	David
Voters 1-3			--	--
Voters 4-5		--		--
Voters 6-8	--
Voters 9-10	--	--	--

Results

Alice: 5 approvals (voters 1-5)
Bob: 6 approvals (voters 1-3, 6-8)
Carol: 5 approvals (voters 4-8)
David: 5 approvals (voters 6-10)

Winner: Bob with 6 approvals. Notice that under traditional single-choice voting, Alice might have won with 5 first-choice votes to Bob's 3. But approval voting reveals that Bob has the broadest support across the entire electorate.

How Approval Voting Works

The approval voting process is remarkably straightforward -- both for election administrators and for voters. Here is exactly how it works, step by step:

Admin creates the election with candidates

The election organizer sets up the ballot with a list of candidates (or options). There is no need to configure complex ranking rules or scoring scales -- just add the candidates and choose "Approval Voting" as the method.

Voters select ALL candidates they approve of

Each voter reviews the candidates and checks off every one they consider acceptable for the position. There is no minimum or maximum number of approvals. A voter can approve one candidate, several candidates, or even all of them. The instruction is simple: "Select every candidate you would be happy to see win."

Each approval counts as one point

The counting method is as simple as it gets. Every approval a candidate receives counts as exactly one point. There is no weighting, no elimination rounds, and no redistribution. If 47 voters approve of a candidate, that candidate's score is 47.

The candidate with the most approvals wins

After all ballots are counted, the candidate with the highest number of approvals is declared the winner. In the case of a tie, the election administrator can apply a tiebreaker rule or hold a runoff between the tied candidates. For multi-winner elections, the top N candidates with the most approvals are elected.

Why Simplicity Matters

One of the biggest barriers to adopting alternative voting methods is complexity. Voters who don't understand the system are less likely to participate -- or more likely to make mistakes. Approval voting avoids this problem entirely. The ballot looks like a simple checklist, and the counting is just addition. Anyone who can count can verify the results.

Visual Example: Approval Voting Ballot

Here is what an approval voting ballot looks like in practice. In this example, a neighborhood association is electing a new chairperson from five candidates. Each voter checks off every candidate they approve of:

Neighborhood Association Chairperson Election

Select all candidates you approve of

Maria Santos

James Okafor

Priya Patel

David Kim

Sarah Johnson

This voter approved 3 of 5 candidates

Tallied Results (40 voters)

Priya Patel28 approvals

Maria Santos24 approvals

David Kim22 approvals

James Okafor15 approvals

Sarah Johnson11 approvals

Winner: Priya Patel with 28 approvals out of 40 voters (70% approval rate). This means 70% of all voters considered Priya an acceptable choice -- a strong consensus mandate.

When to Use Approval Voting

Approval voting shines in specific scenarios where simplicity and consensus are more important than capturing granular preference data. Here are the most common and effective use cases:

Multi-Candidate Races

When there are many candidates and no clear frontrunner, approval voting prevents vote splitting. Voters can support multiple strong candidates rather than agonizing over which one to pick. This is common in large committee elections.

Consensus-Driven Elections

When the goal is to find the candidate with the broadest support rather than the most passionate base, approval voting is ideal. The winner is the person most people can agree on -- not just the person with the most devoted minority.

Board and Committee Elections

Electing multiple members to a board from a large candidate pool is a natural fit for approval voting. Each voter approves as many candidates as they think are qualified, and the top N candidates are elected to fill the available seats.

Preliminary and Shortlisting Rounds

Approval voting is excellent for narrowing a large field down to a shortlist. In a first round, voters approve all acceptable candidates. The top vote-getters advance to a final round using a different method if desired.

Time-Limited Voting

When voters have limited time or patience -- such as at a live event or a meeting with a packed agenda -- approval voting keeps the process fast. No ranking is needed. Voters just check boxes and submit. Counting is instantaneous.

Low-Stakes or Informal Elections

For club activities, team decisions, event planning, and other informal votes where you need a quick consensus, approval voting removes the friction of more complex methods while still producing fair outcomes.

When NOT to Use Approval Voting

Approval voting is not the best choice when you need to capture how strongly voters prefer one candidate over another. If preference intensity matters -- for example, in a high-stakes election where voters care deeply about their top choice versus their backup -- consider Ranked Choice (IRV) or STAR voting instead. For simple yes/no questions or two-candidate races, Direct voting is sufficient.

Approval Voting vs Other Voting Methods

TapVoter supports five voting methods. Understanding how approval voting compares to the alternatives helps you choose the right approach for your election. Here is a detailed side-by-side comparison:

Feature	Direct	Ranked Choice (IRV)	STAR	Approval	Multi-Winner
How voters choose	Pick one	Rank all candidates	Rate 0-5 stars	Check all you approve	Pick multiple
Counting method	Most votes wins	Eliminate last, redistribute	Total stars, then runoff	Most approvals wins	Top N by votes
Best for	2 candidates or yes/no	Single winner, 3+ candidates	Nuanced preference data	Consensus, large fields	Electing multiple seats
Complexity	Very easy	Moderate	Moderate	Easy	Easy
Spoiler effect	High risk	Reduced	Reduced	Eliminated	Partial
Captures preference intensity

Approval Voting vs Ranked Choice: The Key Difference

The most common question is how approval voting compares to ranked choice (IRV). The fundamental difference is that IRV captures the order of your preferences (first choice, second choice, etc.), while approval voting treats all approved candidates equally. IRV guarantees a majority winner through elimination rounds; approval voting finds the candidate with the widest base of support. Both eliminate the spoiler effect, but they do so in different ways. If preference order matters, choose IRV. If broad acceptability matters, choose approval voting.

Advantages of Approval Voting

Approval voting has several compelling advantages that make it an attractive choice for organizations looking to move beyond traditional single-choice voting:

No Spoiler Effect

Because voters can approve of multiple candidates, similar candidates never split the vote. If two strong candidates appeal to the same base, supporters can approve both without hurting either. This completely eliminates the spoiler effect that plagues traditional single-choice elections.

Simple to Understand and Vote

The instructions fit in one sentence: "Check all candidates you approve of." No ranking, no scoring, no complicated rules. This makes it accessible to voters of all ages and backgrounds, and dramatically reduces ballot errors and voter confusion.

Encourages Honest Voting

In single-choice voting, voters often feel pressured to vote strategically -- choosing the "lesser evil" instead of their true favorite. With approval voting, there is no penalty for supporting your favorite alongside safer choices. Voters can be completely honest about who they approve of.

Works Well for Multi-Winner Elections

Need to elect three board members from a pool of ten candidates? Approval voting handles this naturally. Voters approve all qualified candidates, and the top three by approval count win. No complex transfer rules, no quota calculations -- just the candidates with the most support.

Fast to Count

Counting approval votes is pure addition. There are no elimination rounds, no vote transfers, and no complex algorithms. Results can be tallied instantly by a digital platform or quickly by hand. This transparency builds trust in the outcome.

Reveals True Support Levels

Approval voting shows you how many voters find each candidate acceptable -- not just who a plurality supports. This data is valuable beyond the election itself: it tells you which candidates have broad organizational support and which are polarizing.

Disadvantages and Limitations

No voting method is perfect, and approval voting has trade-offs that are important to understand before choosing it for your election:

Does Not Capture Preference Intensity

An approval for your absolute favorite candidate counts exactly the same as an approval for a candidate you find "acceptable but not exciting." There is no way to express that you strongly prefer one candidate over another. Ranked choice and STAR voting both capture this nuance.

Can Elect "Lowest Common Denominator" Winners

Because approval voting rewards broad acceptability, the winner may be the candidate who is nobody's first choice but everyone's second. In some elections, this is desirable (consensus candidates). In others, it may produce a winner who lacks passionate support.

Less Expressive Than Ranked Methods

With approval voting, you can only say "yes" or "no" to each candidate. You cannot say "I prefer A over B, but I approve of both." If voter expressiveness is important for your election, ranked choice or STAR voting provides more granular preference data.

Approval Threshold Is Subjective

Different voters have different thresholds for what "approve" means. Some voters will approve only their top candidate. Others will approve everyone except their least favorite. This inconsistency in voting strategy can affect results, though in practice, it tends to balance out across a large electorate.

When to Choose a Different Method

If your election involves deeply contested positions where voters have strong preferences between candidates, consider Ranked Choice (IRV) or STAR voting instead. These methods capture the relative strength of preferences and can produce more nuanced outcomes. Approval voting is best suited for elections where broad acceptability and simplicity are the top priorities.

Multi-Winner Approval Voting

One of approval voting's greatest strengths is its natural extension to multi-winner elections. When you need to elect multiple people to a board, committee, or panel, approval voting handles it elegantly: voters approve all candidates they find acceptable, and the top N candidates by approval count win the available seats.

This approach is sometimes called "bloc approval voting" and is one of the simplest methods for multi-seat elections. Unlike proportional representation methods (such as Single Transferable Vote), multi-winner approval voting does not attempt to ensure proportional representation among different voting blocs. Instead, it selects the candidates with the broadest overall support.

Example: Electing 3 Board Members from 8 Candidates

A nonprofit organization has 8 candidates running for 3 open board seats. There are 50 voters, each approving as many candidates as they wish:

Candidate	Approvals	Approval Rate	Result
Lisa Chen	38	76%	Elected
Raj Gupta	35	70%	Elected
Maria Garcia	31	62%	Elected
Tom Williams	27	54%	Not elected
Sarah Davis	24	48%	Not elected
James Park	19	38%	Not elected
Nina Kowalski	15	30%	Not elected
Andre Thompson	12	24%	Not elected

Result: Lisa Chen (76%), Raj Gupta (70%), and Maria Garcia (62%) are elected to the three board seats. All three winners have approval from a majority of voters, indicating strong consensus support for the new board.

Multi-Winner on TapVoter

TapVoter's Approval Voting method handles multi-winner elections automatically. When creating your election, simply specify the number of seats to fill. TapVoter will display the approval count for every candidate and clearly indicate which candidates won the available seats. You can also use TapVoter's dedicated Multi-Winner voting method if you want to set a specific number of selections each voter can make.

How to Run an Approval Voting Election on TapVoter

TapVoter supports approval voting as one of its five built-in voting methods. Setting up an approval voting election is free, takes just a few minutes, and supports up to 10,000 voters. Here is how to get started:

Create a free TapVoter account

Sign up at TapVoter with your email or Google account. Creating elections is completely free -- no credit card, no trial period, no voter limits up to 10,000.

Create a new election and select "Approval Voting"

From your dashboard, click "Create Election" and choose "Approval Voting" as your voting method. Give your election a name and optional description. If you are running a multi-winner election, you can specify the number of seats to fill.

Add candidates and configure settings

Add your candidates with names, optional photos, and bios. Set your election dates, choose from 25+ ballot languages, and optionally add your organization's logo and custom branding.

Add voters and distribute keys

Add voters by entering names and emails, importing a CSV, or auto-generating voter keys. Each voter receives a secure, one-time-use link to cast their approval ballot. Launch your election and monitor turnout in real-time from TapVoter's live dashboard.

All 5 Methods, Always Free

TapVoter offers Approval Voting alongside Direct, Ranked Choice (IRV), STAR, and Multi-Winner methods -- all at no cost. You can run unlimited elections with up to 10,000 voters each. Results are calculated automatically and can be shared via a public results link or exported to CSV for your records.

Conclusion

Approval voting is the simplest alternative voting method available today. By letting voters approve of as many candidates as they want, it eliminates the spoiler effect, encourages honest voting, and reliably identifies the candidate with the broadest support. Its counting method is pure addition -- transparent, fast, and easy to verify.

It is ideal for elections where consensus matters more than capturing granular preference data: multi-candidate races, board elections, committee selections, shortlisting rounds, and any scenario where simplicity and speed are priorities. For elections where preference intensity and ranking matter, Ranked Choice (IRV) or STAR voting may be better suited.

The growing adoption of approval voting -- from professional societies and universities to municipal governments -- reflects a broader recognition that traditional single-choice voting often fails to identify the candidate most acceptable to the electorate. Approval voting offers a practical, easy-to-implement alternative that organizations of any size can adopt immediately.

TapVoter makes running an approval voting election free and straightforward. Create your account, set up your election with the Approval Voting method, add your candidates and voters, and launch. Results are calculated instantly and shared transparently. Whether you are electing a single leader or filling multiple board seats, approval voting on TapVoter gives your organization a fairer, simpler way to make collective decisions.