Alternative Vote The alternative vote (AV) is a majoritarian system in which the winning candidate must obtain a majority of the votes. The alternative vote is a candidate-centered preference voting system used in single-member districts where voters rank order the candidates. Voters typically have to place numbers next to the names of the candidates on the ballot to indicate whether each is the voter's first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on. Some AV systems require that voters rank order all of the candidates, whereas others allow voters to rank order only some of the candidates.