Defined term

Cumulative Voting

Cumulative Voting: A vote variation used in a multiple seat contest where a voter is permitted to distribute a specified number of votes to one or more…

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Definition

A vote variation used in a multiple seat contest where a voter is permitted to distribute a specified number of votes to one or more contest options. Two major variations are used in US elections, one of which may result in fractional votes.

Alternative Definitions

Definition 2

Practice where voters are permitted to cast as many votes as there are seats to be filled. Voters are not limited to giving only one vote to a candidate. Instead, they can put multiple votes on one or more candidates.

Source: NISTType: standard
Definition 3

A vote variation used in multi-seat contests where a voter is permitted to distribute allowed selections to one or more candidates in whole vote increments.

Source: NIST WebType: semantic
Definition 4

A vote variation used in multi-seat contests where a voter is permitted to distribute allowed selections to 1 or more candidates in whole vote increments.

Source: NIST Election GlossaryType: standard
Definition 5

“A VOTING VARIATION in which the voter is entitled to allocate a fixed number of votes (N) over a list of M CONTEST CHOICES or WRITE-INS. … Unlike N-OF-M VOTING, cumulative voting allows the voter to allocate more than one vote to a given contest choice.” 2007 VVSG. Cumulative voting is increasing in popularity.

Source: Electronic Voting GlossaryType: external

Sources

1
Glossary of Election Terms, U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
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2
Glossary for Voting Systems, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
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3
NIST Election Terminology Glossary, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
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4
EAC Glossary of Terms
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5
EAC Glossary of Election Terms
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6
NIST Election Glossary
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7
Electronic Voting Glossary
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