---
title: "What is approval voting? Pick every option you accept"
url: "https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/approval-voting/"
description: "In approval voting, each voter picks every option they find acceptable and the most-approved option wins. It is the default for a Slack poll in Simple Poll."
---

# What is approval voting?

**Approval voting**: Approval voting lets each voter pick every option they find acceptable, as many as they like. The option with the most approvals wins.

Also known as: approval poll.

Approval voting answers "what can most of us live with?" rather than "what's everyone's
favourite?". It's the default behaviour of a Simple Poll choice poll, so you've probably run
one already.

## Example polls

Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.

```text
/poll "Which times work for the planning session?" "Tue 10:00" "Tue 14:00" "Wed 11:00" "Thu 15:00"
```

The classic approval vote. Everyone ticks every slot they can make. *Free.*

```text
/poll "Which logo directions could you live with?" "Wordmark" "Monogram" "Mascot" "Abstract mark" close after 1 day
```

A shortlist vote that closes itself after a day. *Premium: closing automatically.*

```text
/poll "Where would you go for the team lunch?" "Thai" "Pizza" "Burritos" "Salad bar" allow-options
```

Lets people add a place you didn't list. *Free.*

## What it means in practice

Each person ticks every option that works for them. You count ticks per option, and the
highest count wins. Nobody has to choose between two options they both like, so a
popular compromise isn't split.

It's the right method for finding overlap: meeting times, dates, which of several
restaurants people would go to, which candidates make a shortlist. It's a weak method for
expressing strong preference, because a lukewarm yes counts the same as an enthusiastic
one. For that, use [ranked-choice voting](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/ranked-choice-voting/).

## Approval voting in Slack

A Simple Poll choice poll lets voters pick any number of options unless you add `limit`.
So the plain poll is an approval vote, and it works on the Free plan. Add `close after`
(Premium) when you need a deadline, and `allow-options` if someone might have a better
option you missed.

## Reading the result

Total votes add up to more than the number of voters, so don't read them as percentages
of votes cast. Read each option as "how many of the people who voted could accept this".
If one option is ticked by nearly everyone, you're done. If two are close, a quick
follow-up with `limit 1` (Premium) between those two settles it.

## FAQ

### Is a Simple Poll poll approval voting by default?

Yes. Without `limit`, each voter can pick as many options as they like. Add `limit 1`
(Premium) to switch to one vote per person.

### What is the difference between approval and plurality voting?

In [plurality voting](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/plurality-voting/) each person picks one option. In
approval voting each person picks every option they accept.

## Related

- [What is plurality voting?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/plurality-voting/): Plurality voting gives each voter one vote, and the option with the most votes wins, even if it has less than half of them. In single-winner elections it is also called first-past-the-post.
- [What is a multiple-choice poll?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/multiple-choice-poll/): A multiple-choice poll gives voters a fixed list of options to choose from. Depending on the settings, each person can pick one option or several.
- [Meeting time poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/meeting-time/): When you need to find a slot that works for a group and calendars alone don't tell you who can really make it.
- [What is ranked-choice voting?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/ranked-choice-voting/): Ranked-choice voting asks each voter to put the options in order of preference instead of picking just one. The term usually means instant-runoff counting: the last-placed option is eliminated round by round until one option has a majority.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Approval voting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approval_voting)
- [Can others add options to my poll?](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/53-can-others-add-options-to-my-poll)

---

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