While the process of ranked-choice voting may seem convoluted, it’s actually not, especially if you feel strongly about one candidate. Many people are under the impression they have to vote for three candidates, but if you feel strongly about one candidate, you can simply rank that candidate as your first choice and leave the second and third choices blank.

If, on the other hand, you like two or three candidates, rank them in order of your preference. The ranked-choice ballot lists the names of all the candidates in three repeating columns. To mark the ranked-choice ballot, select your first-choice candidate in the first column by filling in the arrow pointing to your choice. If you are voting for a second or a second and third choice, fill in the arrows by to their names in the next two columns.

Your second choice will be counted only if your first choice is eliminated. Your third choice will be counted only if both your first and second choices have been eliminated. Keep in mind that if your top choice doesn’t get enough votes and is eliminated, a second or third choice candidate could win, so if you know you want your first choice to win, only vote for the one candidate, and leave the second and third choice columns blank.

If you decide to vote for just one candidate, mark that candidate only once. If you select the same candidate in more than one column, your vote only counts the first time.

HOW THE VOTES ARE COUNTED:

• To start, every first-choice selection is counted. Any candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the first-choice selections is declared the winner.

• If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the first-choice selections, the candidate who received the fewest number of first-choice selections is eliminated.

• Voters who selected the eliminated candidate as their first choice will have their vote transferred to their second choice. The votes are then recounted. If any remaining candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, he or she is declared the winner.

• If no remaining candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, the process of eliminating candidates and transferring votes to the next ranked candidate is repeated until one candidate has a winning majority.