Borda count
Each voter writes all candidates' names in order of preference. Each candidate receives points based on their position on the voter's ballot. If there are n candidates in the election, the voter's ith choice receives n-i points. The candidate with the most total points wins.
Benefits
- Consensus-based—tends to elect a compromise candidate as opposed to a polarizing candidate. Borda count is very strongly consensus-based, even more so than Condorcet.
Disadvantages
- Presents a large opportunity for strategic voting.
- Produces bad outcomes in the face of high amounts of strategic voting.
Recommended when
- You want a strong consensus voting method and your members can largely be trusted not to vote strategically.
Not recommended when
- You want a majoritarian voting method.
- Your members are likely to vote strategically.