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Score the Vote
The cover of Score the Vote by Chris Borgia: the title in black capitals above a row of eleven ballot bubbles numbered 0 to 10, with the 10 scribbled in.

Score the Vote

How One Change to the Ballot Fixes Everything That’s Broken

by Chris Borgia

A short book, 90 pages and about an hour of reading, that makes the case for one change to the ballot: rate every candidate from 0 to 10, and the highest score wins.

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Every paperback and hardcover includes the ebook, yours to download the day you order. Shipping is free to US addresses. Launch price: 50% off every edition.

Read chapter 1 freeSee what’s inside

Chapter 1, free to read

You walk into a booth. You pick one name. You leave.

That’s it. That’s the entire conversation American democracy is willing to have with you. The most consequential act of citizenship — the one people marched and bled and died for — reduced to a single question: which one? Not how much. Not what you’d accept. Not whom you fear. Just: which one.

From the introduction, “We Can Fix This.”

Read chapter 1 freeAbout 5 minutes

90 pages. One idea.

19 short chapters in three parts. The shape is the book’s own: “first the disease, then the cure, then the fight.”

The disease

Part 1

Why the pick-one ballot manufactures spoilers, two-party lock-in, and lesser-evil voting.

  1. 1Introduction: We Can Fix ThisRead freepage 11
  2. 2The Plurality Problempage 17

The cure

Part 2

Eleven bubbles: how score voting works, where it has been tried, and how it stacks up against ranked choice and STAR.

  1. 3What Is Score Voting?page 27
  2. 4The Reform Landscapepage 33
  3. 5Simplicity Winspage 35
  4. 6The Strategy Questionpage 37
  5. 7Voter Satisfaction Efficiencypage 41
  6. 8Where Score Voting Workspage 47
  7. 9RCV: Credit Where It’s Duepage 53
  8. 10STAR Voting: The Hybridpage 63
  9. 11The Math Chapterpage 65

The fight

Part 3

Primaries, media, money, the law, the objections — and how a reform like this actually wins.

  1. 12Primaries and the Extremism Machinepage 69
  2. 13The Media and Education Challengepage 73
  3. 14Money and Electionspage 77
  4. 15Constitutional and Legal Questionspage 79
  5. 16The Objectionspage 83
  6. 17Building the Movementpage 85
  7. 18The Path to Fifty Statespage 87
  8. 19Your Movepage 89

A few lines from the book

America is not short on leaders. It’s full of people who would govern honestly and represent all of us — people you’d be proud to vote for — and the ballot keeps them off the field before the race even starts.

From Score the Vote, ch. 1

Fixing it isn’t a left cause or a right cause. It’s maintenance.

From Score the Vote, ch. 1

Under plurality, third-party candidates are spoilers. Under score voting, they’re just... candidates.

From Score the Vote, ch. 14

The author of the impossibility theorem, asked to name a possibility, named a score ballot.

From Score the Vote, ch. 11

For anyone who has voted against someone

It takes no side. The book’s spoiler examples cost the right in 1912 and the left in 2000, and the rule behind both belongs to no party.

  • You’ve gone into the booth to stop a candidate more often than to elect one.
  • There’s a candidate you like who “can’t win,” and you’re tired of hearing that a vote for them is wasted.
  • You keep hearing about ranked choice voting and want a fair comparison. Ranked choice and STAR each get their own chapter, credit included.
  • You want evidence. There’s a math chapter, and the key numbers are footnoted to their sources.
  • You want something short enough to hand to a friend who’s given up on politics. It’s 90 pages, about an hour of reading.
  • You want to do something about it. The last part covers primaries, money, the law, the objections, and how a reform like this wins.

Editions and shipping

The ebook is out now. The paperback and color hardcover are on pre-order and ship early December 2026.

Ebook (EPUB), $9
Download it now. Works with Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Kindle (Send to Kindle).
Paperback, $20
Pre-order now. Ships free to US addresses in early December 2026. The ebook is yours today.
Color hardcover, $30
The full-color keepsake edition. Pre-order now, ships free (US) in early December 2026. The ebook is yours today.
In every print copy
The ebook, yours to download the day you order. You don’t wait for the mail to start reading.
Shipping
Free to US addresses. Outside the US, get the ebook.
The book
90 pages, 6 × 9 in, 19 chapters. First edition, 2026.
Refunds
Changed your mind, or something went wrong? Read the refund policy.

About the author

Chris Borgia writes on electoral reform and the mathematics of better elections.

Score the Vote is a project of Super Citizen, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Book sales and donations fund the work. About the project

This book doesn’t end when you close it. It ends when your ballot changes.

From Score the Vote, ch. 1

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