State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

All of the Above? The Ancient Voting Method One City Might Adopt

Governing: It can be tough for voters to choose which person to support when elections feature multiple qualified candidates who are jockeying for the same position. Voters in Fargo, N.D., might be relieved of that burden of choice.

Next month, Fargo voters will decide whether to adopt a ballot measure that would create a system known as "approval voting" for local elections. The idea is simple: Everybody can vote for as many candidates as they'd like. If there are four candidates for the city commission, you could choose to vote for one of them, or for two, or for the whole lot. Unlike the other multiple-choice method known as ranked-choice voting, which is gaining favor in some places, each vote would count the same. The person with the highest total would win.

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