Approval voting

Each voter marks every candidate they find acceptable; there is no ranking and no limit. The candidate with the most approvals wins, or the top N in a multi-seat contest.

Steven Brams and Peter Fishburn formalised the method in the late 1970s. Supporters argue it reduces vote-splitting between similar candidates and works on ordinary ballots. Theory also notes that it is not guaranteed to elect a Condorcet winner and that the best strategy depends on what a voter expects others to do.

• Fargo, North Dakota: adopted by citizen initiative (Measure 1) on 6 November 2018, first used in the city commission election of 9 June 2020, and used again in 2022 and 2024.
• St. Louis, Missouri: Proposition D (November 2020) introduced it for the nonpartisan primaries; first used in the 2 March 2021 mayoral primary, where the top two advanced to a runoff.

Opponents say approving many candidates dilutes a voter's preference between them and may favour broadly acceptable but weakly supported candidates. A North Dakota legislator who sponsored a ban argued it elects candidates who "pander to the middle". Voters may also "bullet vote" for one candidate, which reduces to plurality.

Only two US cities have used it. In Fargo it ended after the legislature banned it in 2025; St. Louis continued after Missouri's 2024 ban on ranked-choice voting, which exempted existing nonpartisan municipal systems. Evidence on its effect on moderation is thin.