A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important and prioritized heavily. This incentivizes pandering to the political base or "core support" as a result of the center squeeze effect. Methods like Condorcet voting,

rated voting Rated, evaluative, graded, or cardinal voting rules are a class of voting methods that allow voters to state how strongly they support a candidate, by giving each one a grade on a separate scale. The distribution of ratings for each candidate ...

, and the

Borda count The Borda method or order of merit is a positional voting rule that gives each candidate a number of points equal to the number of candidates ranked below them: the lowest-ranked candidate gets 0 points, the second-lowest gets 1 point, and so on ...

do not exhibit such effects. Methods like

anti-plurality voting Anti-plurality voting describes an electoral system in which each voter votes ''against'' a single candidate, and the candidate with the fewest votes against wins. Anti-plurality voting is an example of a positional voting method. Example I ...

and

Coombs' method Coombs' method is a ranked voting system. Like instant-runoff (IRV-RCV), Coombs' method is a sequential-loser method, where the last-place finisher according to one method is eliminated in each round. However, unlike in instant-runoff, each rou ...

have the opposite effect, being dominated by a voter's bottom rankings and so tending to elect the "least offensive" candidates. First-preference votes are used by

psephologists Psephology (; from Greek ) is the study of elections and voting. Psephology attempts to both Political forecasting, forecast and explain election results. The term is more common in Britain and in those English-speaking communities that rely hea ...

and the print and

broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

media to broadly describe the ''state of the parties'' at elections and the '' swing'' between elections. The term is much-used in Australian politics, where ranked voting has been universal at federal, state, and local levels since the 1920s.

References

{{voting systems Voting theory