Quadratic voting
Each voter gets 100 credits. Votes for the same option get more expensive: the cost is the number of votes squared. Because strong feelings cost more, voters show how much they care, not just which way they lean.
How the cost works
One vote costs 1 credit, two cost 4, five cost 25, and ten cost all 100. You can also vote against an option, at the same price.
Squaring is what makes it work. Ten votes for one option use all 100 credits, but one vote each for ten options costs only 10. So a mild preference is cheap, a strong one is expensive, and no one can take over the result by putting everything on one option. In theory, the totals then show how much the group wants each option, not just how many people want it.
Where it's been tried
Economist Glen Weyl developed quadratic voting, and he and Eric Posner made it popular in their 2018 book Radical Markets. Colorado House Democrats used it in 2019 to prioritize budget bills, giving each member 100 credits, just as TallyLab does. Companies and blockchain groups known as DAOs have tried it too, but it's still mostly an experiment.
On TallyLab
Not every version allows votes against an option. TallyLab does, and a vote against costs the same as a vote for. Results are net totals: votes for minus votes against, added up across all voters.