A ballot is the tool voters use to express their choices in an election. It's usually a piece of paper or electronic form listing the candidates, parties or issues, where the voter marks their selection.
A ballot usually contains:
List of options
Candidates, parties, or issues appear on the ballot
Instructions
Tell voters how to correctly mark their choice
Space to mark the vote
Check box, circle, ranking, or other method to record the choice
Single-Choice Ballot
City Mayor Election
Mark exactly one candidate.
Multi-Choice Ballot
City Council At-Large
Mark up to 2 candidates.
Ranked Ballot
Presidential Primary
Rank candidates by preference. Use 1 for your favorite, 2 for your next choice, and so on. Avoid duplicate ranks. Leave blank candidates you don't like, they will receive minimal points
Scored Ballot
Candidate Score Ballot
Score each candidate from 0 (strongly oppose) to 10 (strongly support). Leave blank if you have no opinion.
Approval Ballot
Community Advisory Board
Approve any number of candidates.
Cumulative Ballot (Variant of Multi-Choice)
City Council At-Large — Cumulative
You have 5 total votes. Distribute them among any candidates (including giving multiple votes to one).
Party-List Ballot (Closed List)
Legislature — Closed Party List
Mark one party. Candidate order is fixed by the party and shown for reference.
Open-List Party Ballot (Party vote + candidate preferences)
Legislature — Open Party List
Mark one party for your list vote. Optionally give up to 2 preference votes to candidates within that party to influence the order in which they are seated.
Closed-List Party Ballot
Legislature — Closed Party List
Mark one party. Candidate order is fixed by the party and shown for reference.
Panachage (Pick across party lists)
Legislature — Panachage
Select up to 5 candidates across any party list.
Panachage with Cumulation (e.g., up to 2 per candidate)
Legislature — Panachage
Distribute up to 5 total votes across candidates (up to 2 per candidate).