--- title: "How to Display Vote Percentage" description: "Poll percentages that add up to 99% or 101% look broken, and the usual fixes fail on ties. A small tweak to the largest remainder method gets the total to 100% where it can, while options with equal votes always show equal percentages." url: https://manytomany.co/blog/how-to-display-vote-percentage/ published: 2026-08-19 --- # How to Display Vote Percentage 19 August 2026 Ok, so you have coded a voting system and need to calculate the voting percentage to display something like: - Messi 50% - Ronaldo 50% Ok, cool, so we count the number of votes for each option, then divide by the total number of votes. Easy. - Dogs 1 vote 33% - Cats 2 votes 66% Oops, the votes do not add up to 100%, which looks weird, so I guess rounding down those fractions won’t cut it. Let’s do the actual rounding. ```terminal > Math.round(2/3 * 100) 67 > Math.round(1/3 * 100) 33 ``` - Dogs 1 vote 33% - Cats 2 votes 67% Nice! Let’s try the other case. - Terran 1 vote 33% - Zerg 1 vote 33% - Protoss 1 vote 33% Well, the sum is not 100%, but it **is** a draw, so it probably works. But what if: - Swimming 1 vote 17% - Running 1 vote 17% - Cycling 4 votes 67% ```terminal > 17 + 17 + 67 101 ``` Not good, **101%** total is not something your election committee will be happy about. Perhaps the issue can be solved if we don’t round up to whole numbers? Let’s try adding another decimal unit: ```terminal > Math.round(1/6 * 1000)/10 + Math.round(1/6 * 1000)/10 + Math.round(4/6 * 1000)/10 100.1 ``` Arguably better, but not perfect. At this point, you Google up or come up with the [Hare-Niemeyer (or largest remainder) method](https://www.polyas.com/election-glossary/hare-niemeyer). Essentially, you need to calculate percentages, take the integer parts (i.e., use the `floor()` function), and then award the percentages remaining from 100, starting with the largest remainders. In the example above, it still fails, though. All options are tied with `0.666...` remainders. - Swimming 1 vote 16.666% - Running 1 vote 16.666% - Cycling 4 votes 66.666% If we drop the remainders, we end up with the sum of 98%. - Swimming 1 vote 16% - Running 1 vote 16% - Cycling 4 votes 66% Total 98% Hare-Niemeyer is designed for awarding seats in the representative assemblies based on the number of votes cast. It suggests random allocation or drawing lots in the case of draws. In a poll the reader can see the vote counts, however, and two options with the same number of votes showing different percentages looks like a bug. So here is the one that works best. ## Keep the ties, then fill up to 100% Instead of awarding the leftover percentages one option at a time, award them to whole groups of tied options. Every option shows its percentage either rounded down or rounded up, and: 1. Options with the same number of votes always show the same percentage. 2. An option never shows a smaller percentage than an option with fewer votes. 3. The total gets as close to 100% as rules 1 and 2 allow, and never goes above it. 4. If there are several ways to get there, round up the options with the largest remainders. In the “Swimming, Running, Cycling” example, there are 2 percentage points left after rounding down. Cycling alone can’t take both, but the Swimming and Running pair can: - Swimming 1 vote 17% - Running 1 vote 17% - Cycling 4 votes 66% Total 100% When there is no way to hand out the leftover without breaking a tie, like in the Terran, Zerg, Protoss draw, the total stays a little under 100%, which is the honest result. Try to break it yourself: - Alpha vote 17% 16.67% - Beta vote 17% 16.67% - Gamma votes 66% 66.67% Total 100% ![Vitalii](https://manytomany.co/vitalii-yellow.png) ## Hi. I'm Vitalii. I’m a software developer, technical manager and solo entrepreneur. I have been building software products all my life. I am offering **CTO as a Service** at many-to-many. ## Contact me Let me know what are you looking for. I will reach out to you via the provided email with quote and follow up questions. Alternatively, [book a call](https://calendly.com/many-to-many/intro) or reach me directy by email [hello@manytomany.co](mailto:hello@manytomany.co). Or using your preferred messaging app: [![WhatsApp QR Code](https://manytomany.co/qr/qr-whatsapp.png)](https://wa.me/qr/QH6GQNCO5CZEO1)[WhatsApp](https://wa.me/qr/QH6GQNCO5CZEO1) [![Telegram QR Code](https://manytomany.co/qr/qr-telegram.png)](https://t.me/wicharek)[Telegram](https://t.me/wicharek)