Voting

People voting by raising their hands

Voting is when a group of people decide something by saying what they want. It can be for electing a leader or representative, passing a law, and other things. When people are done voting, the votes are counted (often by machines) and the winner is determined.

Voting can be done in small groups (friends deciding what to do over weekend), societies (building committee deciding on whether to paint a building), nations (voting for president or - in some cases - voting for independence) and global (United Nations deciding how to limit nuclear weapon development).

Usually the side that gets most votes will win. This is called majority rule. The right to vote is called suffrage.

In some cases, a certain percentage may be needed to win a vote. This is often the case when voting to change the constitution of a country, or when electing a government official. When choosing a government official, there may be several rounds. In the first round, votes can be cast for all candidates. In the second round, only the two or three candidates with the most votes can be chosen. Voting is done in democratic government.

There may also be different systens: In some cases, each person has one vote. Other systems may be like ranking, such as picking the three options the person sees most suitable, for example out of five.

Especially in bigger votes, it is often not be possible to track who cast a certain vote.

Images

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  An Afghan man votes
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  Indonesian woman voting
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  Voting booths are often used so that people are not disturbed when they cast their vote
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  A ballot paper, where people have two options (they can vote for either, but not for both)

Related pages

• Election