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Cumulative voting is a multiple-winner voting system in which each voter is able to decide not only which choices to vote for, but also within limits, how much relative weight to give to each option or candidate. In this system, a voter is given X number of points and can distribute those points as they choose to one or more option or candidate. Because of this, the voter has the ability to express a nuanced variety of preferences and weight the acceptability of various outcomes.
The system can be used to determine one or multiple winners and can also be used to rank the various winners by preference. One feature that may make this voting system desirable in certain circumstances is that each voter can be granted a different numbers of points to award. For these reasons, this system is used extensively in corporate elections.
The number of points assigned can be equal to the total number of winners but this is not always the case. In the case of corporate elections, voters often receive one vote per share.
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