How voters choose under the Borda rule: evidence from a post-election survey experiment in Germany 2025

Abstract The Borda count offers a promising alternative to counteract the growing polarization of party systems by incentivizing moderate party strategies. However, empirical evidence on the Borda count is still lacking. This paper presents results from an online survey conducted in the aftermath of the 2025 German federal election, in which respondents were asked for their vote choice under a Borda count system. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in the first, they could rank up to three out of seven parties; in the second, they could rank all seven parties. The findings show that more ranks considered, the more fragmented the election result. It also shows that the Borda count has mixed effects on policy congruence between voters and parliament. Respondents’ overall acceptance of the Borda rule was moderate to negative, with many of the objections cited were based on misconceptions about the system’s consequences.