Voting facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Voting is how a group, like people in a country or a club, makes a shared decision or shows what they think. It often happens after people talk about things or during election campaigns. In democracies, people vote to choose their leaders. People who live in an area represented by a leader are called "constituents." Those who cast a ballot (their vote) are called "voters." There are many ways to collect votes, and some systems used for general decisions can also be used for elections.

In smaller groups, voting can be done in different ways. It can be formal, like using ballots to elect people at work or in political groups. It can also be informal, like agreeing out loud, raising a hand, or voting online. In most countries, you need to be 18 years old or older to vote legally.

How Voting Works in Politics

In a democracy, people choose their government by voting in an election. An election is a way for voters to pick from different candidates who want to lead.

Choosing Representatives

In a representative democracy, people vote to choose representatives. These representatives then make decisions for everyone. It's like choosing a class president who then speaks for the class.

Making Decisions Directly

In a direct democracy, people vote directly on decisions. They can vote on bills (proposed laws) to make them official laws, and other important issues.

Types of Votes

A majority vote means more than half the people agree. It's a way for someone to say they are for or against a proposal, a question on a ballot, or a certain candidate or political party. Sometimes, voters can rank their choices, showing their first, second, and third picks. Many countries use a secret ballot in elections. This means your vote is private, so no one can pressure you or know who you voted for.

Voting often happens at a special place called a polling station. In some countries, voting is optional, but in others, like Australia, it's required.

Different Ways to Decide

When a group needs to make a decision, they want to find what most people agree on. There are several ways to do this:

Simple Majority: The choice with more than half the votes wins.
Two-Round Voting: If no one gets a majority in the first round, the top two choices go to a second vote.
Approval Voting: You can vote for as many candidates as you like. The one with the most "approvals" wins.
Ranked Voting: You rank candidates in order of your preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). If no one gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed, and their votes are given to the voters' next choice. This continues until someone wins.

In Switzerland, people get their voting papers and information at home. Switzerland has a direct democracy system, and votes happen about four times a year. This picture shows voting materials for citizens in Berne in November 2008.

Electoral Systems

There are many ways to run elections, especially when choosing more than one person.

Single Winner: For example, when electing a president, usually only one person wins.
Multiple Winners: When electing a parliament (a group of lawmakers), many people are chosen.

* Some countries, like Britain, divide into many small areas, and each area elects one representative. * Other countries, like Ireland, have larger areas that elect a few representatives. * Some countries, like The Netherlands, treat the whole country as one big area for elections.

Plurality voting means the winner doesn't need more than half the votes. They just need more votes than anyone else. If there are many candidates, the winner might get less than 50% of the total votes. This can sometimes lead to a two-party system where only two main parties are strong.

For example, imagine a class voting for a favorite color of marble. If there are three green marbles, one red, and one blue, and everyone votes for only one marble, a green marble might not win. This is because the votes for "green" would be split among the three green marbles, while red and blue each get all their supporters' votes.

With approval voting, if you like green, you can vote for all three green marbles. This makes it more likely that a green marble will win if most people prefer green.

Voting in Referendums

Most of the time, when citizens vote, it's for an election. But people can also vote in referendums and initiatives. A referendum is when people vote directly on a specific question or law. Since the late 1700s, over 500 national referendums have happened worldwide. More than 300 of these were in Switzerland. Australia is second with many referendums.

Most referendums ask a "yes" or "no" question. However, some have offered more choices. For example, New Zealand had a five-option referendum in 1992.

Fair Voting

Sometimes, voting results can be confusing or even cause problems between political rivals. It's important to choose an option that most people don't strongly dislike, as well as one they favor.

Experts have ideas about what makes voting fair, like making sure no one person can control the outcome, and that all choices are considered. However, it's very hard for any voting system to meet all these fairness rules at once.

To help ensure fair voting, companies like Twitter have added features for users to report misleading information about elections.

Negative Voting

Imagine a voting system where you can vote *for* a candidate or *against* a candidate. A "for" vote adds one point, and an "against" vote subtracts one point. The candidate with the highest total (even if it's zero or negative) wins.

This system can change outcomes. For example, if there are three candidates (A, B, C) and voters can vote against someone, voters who don't like candidate A might vote against them. This could make candidate B or C win, even if they didn't get many "for" votes, because enough negative votes were cast against their opponents.

Proxy Voting

Proxy voting is when a registered voter allows another person to cast their vote for them. This is usually done legally and with permission.

Anti-Voting Campaigns

In some places, like South Africa, some poor citizens run campaigns against voting. They believe that no political party truly represents them. For example, the "No Land! No House! No Vote!" campaign becomes very active during elections. This campaign is popular among social movements that fight for land and housing rights.

Other groups around the world, like the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and some anarchist groups, also choose not to vote.

Sometimes, people cast a blank vote. This means they go through the act of voting, but they don't choose any candidate or option. This can be a way to protest. In some places, there's even an official "none of the above" option on the ballot, and it counts as a valid vote. Usually, blank votes are counted but not considered valid votes for a candidate.

Voting and Information

Some studies suggest that average citizens might not have enough political information to make truly informed votes. Early studies in the 1950s and 1960s found that voters sometimes lacked a basic understanding of current issues or political ideas.

Other studies have even suggested that how candidates look can influence how people vote.

Religious Views on Voting

Some religious groups, like Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Old Order Amish, Rastafarians, and the Assemblies of Yahweh, choose not to participate in politics by voting. However, leaders from all Jewish groups encourage voting, with some even seeing it as a religious duty.

Voting in Meetings and Gatherings

When a group of people needs to make a decision and they don't all agree, voting is a common and peaceful way to decide. Usually, only certain people have the right to vote, like members of a club, shareholders of a company, or judges in a competition. Even friends or family might vote to decide which movie to watch.

The way people vote can vary. It can be formal, like submitting written votes, or informal, like a show of hands, voice voting, or just seeing what most people seem to prefer.

How Voting Results are Decided

According to Robert's Rules of Order, a common guide for meetings, two things decide a vote's outcome: 1. Percentage Needed: How many votes are required to pass something (e.g., more than half, two-thirds). 2. Group Voting: Which group of people the percentage applies to (e.g., only those present and voting, all members of the organization).

For example, a decision might need a "majority vote of the members present and voting." Sometimes, the choice with just the most votes (a plurality) wins, even if it's not a majority. A decision can also be made without a formal vote if everyone agrees, which is called unanimous consent.

A voting method is simply the way people cast their votes in an election or referendum. Many different methods are used around the world.

Common Voting Methods

Meetings often use specific ways to vote on proposals. The usual methods are a voice vote, a rising vote (standing up), and a show of hands. Other ways include a recorded vote (where each person's vote is written down) and using ballots.

Paper Ballots

The most common way to vote is using paper ballots. Voters mark their choices for a candidate or party listed on the ballot. Sometimes, they can even write in the name of a candidate who isn't listed.

Ballot letters in Israel

In Israel and Latvia, they use "ballot letters." Polling places have trays with ballots for each party, marked with their special letter. Voters put the ballot of their chosen party into an envelope and then into a ballot box.

Voting Machines

Some countries use voting machines. These can be old-fashioned manual machines (like lever machines) or electronic ones. In Brazil, voters type in a candidate's number and then see their photo to confirm their vote.

Online Voting

In some countries, people can vote online. Estonia was one of the first to use online voting in their local elections in 2005.

Postal Voting

Many countries allow postal voting. Voters are sent a ballot in the mail and then send it back by post.

Open Ballot

Unlike a secret ballot, an open ballot happens in public, often by a show of hands. An example is the Landsgemeinde system in Switzerland, still used in some areas like Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus.

Other Unique Methods

In The Gambia, people vote using marbles. This method was started in 1965 to help with illiteracy. Polling stations have metal drums painted with party colors and pictures of candidates. Voters get a marble and drop it into the drum of their chosen candidate. A bell rings to confirm the vote. To avoid confusion, bicycles are not allowed near polling places on election day. If a marble is left on top of the drum, the vote isn't counted.

A similar system used in social clubs gives voters a white ball for support and a black ball for opposition. This is where the term "blackballing" comes from, meaning to vote against someone.

Voting in Person

Sometimes, votes are cast in person if everyone who can vote is present. This can be done by a show of hands or using keypad polling devices.

Images for kids

In Switzerland, people get their voting papers and information at home. Switzerland has a direct democracy system, and votes happen about four times a year. This picture shows voting materials for citizens in Berne in November 2008.
Ballot letters in Israel

Election