About civilsort

Sort it out together.

How It Works

1. Create a ballot with an optional title (e.g., "Friday Lunch Vote")
2. Share the URL with participants using the copy button (📋)
3. Control access with the Open/Closed toggle:
   • Open — new visitors can join and vote
   • Closed — only existing participants can access
4. Add items that everyone can vote on
5. Rank your preferences by dragging items into the "Ranked" zone (top = most preferred)
6. View results in real-time on the Results tab

The Schulze Method

civilsort uses the Schulze method (also called Beatpath) to compute rankings. It's a Condorcet completion method that:

• Counts pairwise preferences — for every pair of items, it counts how many voters prefer one over the other
• Finds the strongest paths — uses an algorithm similar to Floyd-Warshall to compute the strongest indirect preference between any two items
• Handles cycles gracefully — if voters prefer A>B, B>C, and C>A (a "Condorcet paradox"), the Schulze method resolves it by finding the strongest paths
• Elects Condorcet winners — if one item beats all others head-to-head, it always wins

Incomplete Rankings

You don't have to rank every item:

• Ranked items are always preferred over unranked items
• Unranked items are tied with each other (no preference)

This lets you express "I care about these top 3, but I'm indifferent to the rest."

Features

• No login required — users are identified by browser cookies
• Real-time updates — results update instantly via WebSockets
• Dark/light mode — toggle with the button in the top-right
• Collaborative — any participant can add items; you can delete items you added

View source on GitHub · Report a bug

← Create a ballot