Explicit approval voting: Difference between revisions

'''Explicit approval voting''' is a [[Ratings ballot|rated voting system]] which is essentially [[Approval voting]] with abstentions. In order to allow abstention, voters must 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" /><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.

Wikimedia and Wikipedia elections are held using a voting system equivalent to [[Explicit approval voting]], in which voters must choose ''Support'', ''Oppose'', or ''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]]