First published on this website in January 2002 and last updated in October 2011

Here is a variation on the normal way of voting, a system that only allows people to express Yes, No or Abstain. This method is useful for gauging people's real feelings about a major decision and can save an enthusiast believing that a unanimous vote means that everyone is as enthusiastic as he or she is.

This system is shown in two forms but both consist of a spectrum. In one form the spectrum runs from +100 through 0 to -100. In the other form words are used to express different points on this spectrum, so the line runs from 'I embrace' to 'I enthuse' to 'I back' to 'I prefer' and so on through 'I am undecided' and eventually down to 'I block'.

Advice is given on how and when to use this method and how to interpret the results.