To fill out your ballot for ranked voting, simply fill in the bubble for each candidate in each column according to your preference—your first-choice candidate in the first-choice column, your second-choice candidate in the second-choice column, your third-choice candidate in the third-choice column, so on and so forth. More or less like this:
A CORRECTLY FILLED OUT BALLOT FOR RANKED VOTING
A mock ballot for ranked votingCity of Fort Collins |
Mayor Vote for XX Candidates |
| 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice | 4th Choice | 5th Choice |
Candidate 1 | ●1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 2 | O1 | ●2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 3 | O1 | O2 | ●3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 4 | O1 | O2 | O3 | ●4 | O5 |
Candidate 5 | O1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | ●5 |
ONE CHOICE FOR EACH CANDIDATE
As always, please make sure you fill in the bubble completely using black or blue ink. Additional instructions about filling out your ballot will be provided at the top of your ballot.
Beyond this, there are three important mistakes to avoid.
First, as you fill out your ballot, please do not give the same candidate multiple ranks.
AN INCORRECTLY FILLED OUT BALLOT FOR RANKED VOTING
A mock ballot for ranked votingCity of Fort Collins |
Mayor Rank up to XX Candidates |
| 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice | 4th Choice | 5th Choice |
Candidate 1 | ●1 | ●2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 2 | O1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 3 | O1 | O2 | ●3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 4 | O1 | O2 | O3 | ●4 | O5 |
Candidate 5 | O1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | ●5 |
DO NOT GIVE THE SAME CANDIDATE MULTIPLE RANKS
If you give the same candidate multiple ranks, only the highest rank will count and all other ranks for that candidate will be invalidated.
Second, do not give the same rank to multiple candidates (what is also referred to as an 'overvote').
AN INCORRECTLY FILLED OUT BALLOT FOR RANKED VOTING
A mock ballot for ranked votingCity of Fort Collins |
Mayor Rank up to XX Candidates |
| 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice | 4th Choice | 5th Choice |
Candidate 1 | ●1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 2 | O1 | ●2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 3 | O1 | O2 | ●3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 4 | O1 | O2 | ●3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 5 | O1 | O2 | O3 | ●4 | O5 |
DO NOT GIVE THE SAME RANK TO MULTIPLE CANDIDATES
If you give the same rank to multiple candidates, there is no way to tell who you voted for. As you can only vote for one candidate, then, all rankings at this level and below would be invalidated, meaning that your vote would not count at this round. In the same way, your vote would not transfer in future rounds, too.
Third, do not skip any ranks.
AN INCORRECTLY FILLED OUT BALLOT FOR RANKED VOTING
A mock ballot for ranked votingCity of Fort Collins |
Mayor Rank up to XX Candidates |
| 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice | 4th Choice | 5th Choice |
Candidate 1 | ●1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 2 | O1 | ●2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 3 | O1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | O5 |
Candidate 4 | O1 | O2 | O3 | ●4 | O5 |
Candidate 5 | O1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | ●5 |
DO NOT SKIP RANKS
If you skip a rank, your vote won't transfer after the skip, and any additional choices made after the skip must be ignored.