{{short description|Election systems}} {{use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} '''Preferential voting''' or '''preference voting''' ('''PV''') may refer to several different types of electoral systems. Many preferential voting systems originated in, or were refined in, national and sub-national elections in Australia, where alternative voting (AV) is widely used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reilly |first=Benjamin |date=July 2004 |title=The global spread of preferential voting: Australian institutional imperialism? |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=13728323&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=Australian Journal of Political Science |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=253–266 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref>
== Types == {{no sources|section|date=March 2026}} * Any electoral system that allows a voter to indicate multiple preferences where preferences marked are weighted or used as contingency votes (any system other than plurality or anti-plurality) * Ranked voting methods, all election methods that involve ranking candidates in order of preference (United States) ** Instant-runoff voting and single transferable vote, referred to as "preferential voting" in Australia by way of conflation ** Bucklin voting, used in some parts of the United States; similarly conflated during the Progressive Era{{explain|date=March 2026}} ** Optional preferential voting{{explain|date=March 2026}} *Open list representation, a form of party-list proportional representation where "preference votes" are used to express preference for individual candidates instead of party lists
== See also == *Electoral system *Rated voting *Social choice theory *Weighted voting
== References == {{reflist}}
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Category:Preferential electoral systems Category:Electoral systems Category:Proportional representation electoral systems Category:Instant-runoff voting