Explicit approval voting: Difference between revisions

'''Explicit approval voting''' is arefers [[Ratings ballot|ratedapproval voting system]] whichelections iswhere essentiallythe [[Approvalballots voting]]allow withfor abstentions. In order toTo allow abstentionfor this, votersan option is mustprovided to explicitly state disapproval. So, the ballot will list ''Approve'' and ''Disapprove'' for each candidate (and may also have a ''Neutral'' option). Leaving a candidate without without "Approve" or "Disapprove" implies "Neutral" (and implies abstaining from voting). The winner is the candidate who has the highest approval among those who didn't abstain: A/(A+D)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Explicit Approval & Hybrid Approval voting|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/EndFPTP/comments/c6chef/explicit_approval_hybrid_approval_voting/|website=r/EndFPTP subreddit|access-date=2019-08-12|language=en}}</ref>

By itself, this rule leads to the possibility of an unknown dark horse candidate winning with only a few approve votes and many abstentions. This can be prevented through the use of various quorum rules,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Explicit Approval & Hybrid Approval voting|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/EndFPTP/comments/c6chef/explicit_approval_hybrid_approval_voting/|website=r/EndFPTP subreddit|access-date=2019-08-12|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Averaging|url=https://rangevoting.org/Averaging.html|website=RangeVoting.org|access-date=2019-08-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Better "Soft Quorum" Rule|url=https://rangevoting.org/BetterQuorum.html|website=RangeVoting.org|access-date=2019-08-12}}</ref> but hasn't seemed to be a problem in actual elections, despite abstention being common.

Many Wikimedia and Wikipedia elections are held using a form of explicit approval voting, systemwhere equivalentthe towinner [[Explicitis the candidate who has the highest approval voting]],among inthose whichwho didn't abstain: A/(A+D)<ref name=":0" /> In these Wikimedia elections, the voters mustwere asked to choose ''"Support''", ''"Oppose''", or ''Neutral"''Neutral" for every candidate. The winner is the candidate with the highest support percentage: the highest proportion of ''Support'' votes out of combined ''Support'' and ''Oppose'' votes = S/(S+O).[[File:2018 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee ballot.png|thumb|An explicit approval ballot for a [[W:Wikipedia:Elections#Arbitration%20Committee|Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election]], which defaults to abstention]]