Ranked-choice polls, counted by instant runoff
In a ranked-choice poll each voter puts the options in order. The count runs in rounds, dropping the option with the fewest votes each time and moving its ballots to their next choice, until one option has more than half.
A worked example: 21 people pick a lunch spot
- 8 people rank Tacos first, then Burgers.
- 6 rank Sushi first, then Ramen.
- 4 rank Ramen first, then Sushi.
- 3 rank Burgers first, then Tacos.
| Option | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Tacos | 8 | 11 |
| Burgers | 3out | – |
| Sushi | 6 | 6 |
| Ramen | 4 | 4 |
| Exhausted ballots | 0 | 0 |
Round 1: Tacos leads with 8 of 21, short of the 11 a majority needs. Burgers has the fewest (3) and is eliminated; those ballots move to their second choice, Tacos. Round 2: Tacos 11, Sushi 6, Ramen 4. Tacos now has 11 of 21, more than half, and wins.
Notice what a single-choice poll would hide: Sushi and Ramen together have 10 first choices, split between two similar options. Here the count still ends early because Tacos reaches a majority before Ramen is eliminated; with a different split, Ramen’s ballots would move to Sushi in the next round.
How does the instant-runoff count work?
Round 1 counts every ballot for its first choice. If an option has more than half of the ballots, it wins. If not, the option with the fewest votes is eliminated, and each ballot that had it on top now counts for its next choice still in the race. The count repeats until one option has more than half of the ballots still counting. The result is the option a majority prefers over the others left at the end, not just the one with the biggest first-round slice.
What is an exhausted ballot?
Voters do not have to rank every option. If all the options a ballot ranked have been eliminated, that ballot has nothing left to count for and is set aside as exhausted. The majority in each round is of the ballots still counting, and the results show how many were exhausted in each round, so you can see how much of the group the final majority represents.
What happens when options tie?
If two or more options tie for the fewest votes, polls.tools looks back at the earlier rounds, starting with the latest: the tied option that had fewer votes there is eliminated. If they were level in every round, all of them are eliminated together. If every option still in the race has the same number of votes, the poll ends in a tie between them and the results say so. The rule is fixed, so the same ballots always give the same result.
When is ranked choice better than a simple poll?
When there are more than two options and some of them are alike. With a single vote, two similar options split their supporters and a third option can win with a minority. Ranking lets supporters of an eliminated option still help choose between the rest. For two options, or when you only want to know the favourite, a single-choice poll is simpler and gives the same answer.
Questions about ranked-choice polls
How many options can a ranked poll have?
Up to 10. Ranking more than that on a phone is tiring, and voters tend to stop after the first few.
Do voters have to rank every option?
No. They can rank as many as they want, even just one. A short ranking simply becomes exhausted sooner if its options are eliminated.
Can I see every round?
Yes. The results show the winner or the leader, the last round as bars and a table with the votes of each option in every round, plus the exhausted ballots.
Can I export the rounds?
Yes. Download CSV on the results gives one column per round, the exhausted ballots and the winner, ready for a spreadsheet.
Is this the same as a Borda count?
No. A Borda count gives points by position and adds them up. Instant runoff counts each ballot for one option at a time and eliminates the weakest option round by round.