How to run a ranked-choice vote

Whether it's an HOA board seat, club officers, a union position, or just a big group decision, running a ranked-choice vote takes about five minutes to set up. Here's the whole process, start to finish.

1. Write one clear question

"Who should serve as board treasurer for 2026?" beats "Board vote." Voters should understand exactly what they're deciding without any extra context. One poll = one decision; if you're electing three positions, run three polls.

2. Add the choices

List every candidate or option — ranked-choice works best with three or more. Keep labels short and neutral ("Maria G." not "Maria (the obvious choice)"). Leave shuffle choice order turned on: each voter then sees the options in a different random order, which prevents the first-listed option from getting a lazy-thumb advantage. It's the same reason election officials rotate candidate order on printed ballots.

3. Decide when voting closes

Set a deadline when you create the poll — an hour for a live meeting, a day or a week for an email vote. Voters see a countdown, and late ballots are rejected automatically. You can also close voting manually at any moment (the "polls are closed" gavel moment is yours).

4. Share one link

Every poll gets a single link that works on any device. Send it by email, text, Slack, or read it out in the meeting. Voters don't create accounts — they open the link, drag the choices into their order of preference, and submit. One ballot per voter is enforced per browser for casual polls; for formal elections with voter rolls and emailed single-use ballots, that's what our paid elections are built for.

5. Read the results out loud, round by round

Results update live as ballots arrive. When voting closes, you get the full instant-runoff story: who was eliminated in each round, where their votes transferred, and the majority winner at the end. Reading it round by round ("Nobody had a majority, so Option C is eliminated; its votes go to...") makes the outcome feel — and be — legitimate. Every step of the count is deterministic and reproducible, including tie-breaks.

Best practices from real elections

• Announce the deadline twice — when you share the link and the day before it closes. Turnout doubles with one reminder.
• Encourage full rankings. Voters can rank as many or as few choices as they like, but fuller rankings mean fewer exhausted ballots in late rounds.
• Agree on the rules before opening. Quorum, who's eligible, and what happens on a tie — decide up front, in writing.
• Share the results link with everyone after closing. Transparency is the whole point of ranked-choice.

Start your vote now

Creating a poll is free and takes about 30 seconds — no account needed.

New to the method? Start with what is ranked-choice voting?