A ranked ballot or preferential voting system is a type of voting system in which each voter casts their vote by ranking candidates in order of preference.
Voting systems which use a ranked ballot include:
- Borda count
- Condorcet methods (including Copeland's method)
- Coombs' method
- Instant-runoff voting
- Single Transferable Vote
Ballot design or voting machine instructions are particularly important in such systems, as each voter is expected to express a rather complex set of tolerances or preferences in each vote.