Reddit Polls: How the Votes Work, Who Sees Them and Where to Make One
Reddit polls are a native post type that Reddit built into its own apps: the creator writes a question, adds options, and every signed-in account casts exactly one vote. The help centre says each account is allowed a single vote, and results stay hidden from anyone who has not voted until they vote or the poll ends. Creation currently runs through the mobile application only, because polls on the web are under construction.
Written by BuyPollVotes editorial desk | Last checked
How reddit polls work: one account, one vote
Reddit built its poll format as a native post type, not a plugin or an outside tool: a member writes a question, lists the options and lets the community decide. The mechanics stay deliberately plain. The help centre states that each account is allowed to cast a single vote, so the count reflects accounts rather than repeat clicks. Voting requires signing in as well, which means a reader who is not logged in sees the post but cannot take part in it.
Results carry their own gate. A person who has voted can see the tally as it currently stands, and it shows up instantly once the choice is in. Someone who has not voted faces a blunt rule: the results cannot be viewed early without voting, so the options are to take part or to wait for the poll to end. The count is therefore invisible to the largest group in any thread, the people who only scroll.
Time limits come from the platform too. A poll can remain open for up to one week, and the end time must be selected at the time of posting. A creator cannot extend a poll halfway through or decide afterwards how long the window stays open, which is why closed reddit polls so often show a frozen count.
Are reddit polls anonymous? What the creator sees
Yes, and the platform says so in its own words: all voting on Reddit polls is done anonymously, so nobody has access to any voter's username or information during or after the vote. The creator can view the total number of votes, but the individual choices behind that number stay hidden. Anonymity here is not a setting a host flips on or off; it is how the feature is built, and there is no switch that unmasks a participant.
For privacy, that makes the format strict by default, which is exactly what a cautious participant wants. It also draws a hard line for anyone attaching a prize to a reddit poll: the count can be confirmed, the names cannot, so a giveaway that needs named entries will not run on a poll post alone.
Reddit polls under construction on the web
Desktop support is the odd chapter in the feature's history. Reddit announced polls in 2020 as a post type with creation enabled on New Reddit and participation supported on mobile web, and the web side has since slid backwards. The platform's own notice says polls on the web are under construction, and a later answer confirms that the ability to create polls on desktop is currently suspended.
Reddit ties the pause to a bigger rebuild. The company says it is transitioning polls to a new platform, and it has not provided a specific timeline for when polls will be accessible on the desktop version again. Threads about the gap draw the same reply: the feature has not been functional on desktop web for some time, and the only method currently available for creating one is the mobile application. In practice that pushes every new poll post through the app.
What the current state means for anyone using the feature is summed up by the support table below and by Reddit's own advice: the app-first pattern exists because the browser version is mid-rebuild, not because the desktop was never meant to have the feature.
- Creators who want a live question today build it in the mobile app, not in a desktop browser.
- Desktop web: creation suspended, and Reddit has published no return date.
- Mobile web: taking part was supported at launch, with no plans to enable creation.
- The under construction notice stays up until the move to a new platform finishes.
Where to find a poll on reddit
A poll is a post, so it turns up everywhere a post does: in a subreddit's feed, on a community's page and inside a profile's history. The reddit poll icon marks it apart from a text or link submission, and the options sit directly under the question instead of behind a comment thread. Upcoming ones show their open window; finished ones show a final count.
Finding one online is ordinary feed reading. Search a subject, add the word poll, and matching reddit poll posts across communities appear next to everything else; roundup lists and community sites surface them the same way, since a question post is indexed like any other. One note on lookalikes: Poll Everywhere, the live audience tool used in meetings and lecture halls, is a separate product that works in rooms rather than in a feed.
A poll post and a comment thread answer a question in different currencies. The thread collects opinions in words; the poll collects a number. Both can sit side by side in a community, and the number is the only part the platform adds up.
Changing or removing a vote
The documented mechanics give a vote no undo. The published guidance describes casting a single choice per account, seeing results after taking part and waiting out the window; it does not describe an edit, a remove option or a way to take a pick back. The plain reading is that a choice, once tapped, stays tapped.
That matters most in a close contest. A participant who taps the wrong option has no documented correction, and the count carries the mistake. Creators who expect second thoughts can plan around the gap: keep the option list short, label each one so it cannot be misread, and remember the end time is fixed at posting, so there is no later phase in which to rerun the question inside the same post. Deleting the whole post removes every answer with it, not a single one.
What reddit's rules say about upvotes and manipulation
The rules side is where any plan to inflate a tally stops. The help centre states that vote manipulation is prohibited and goes against the rules, whether it is manual, programmatic, or otherwise. The same guidance lists what falls under the ban: creating and employing multiple accounts, voting services, or any software to manipulate vote counts by either increasing or decreasing them.
Two more clauses widen the net. Requesting or encouraging people to upvote or downvote specific posts, either on the platform or through social networks and messaging for personal gain, counts as manipulation. So does joining or forming groups that coordinate votes on a specific post or a user's posts. Reddiquette adds a plainer line still: do not ask for upvotes in exchange for gifts or prizes.
For anyone weighing whether to buy poll votes, the rule is the risk. A service that adds votes to a reddit poll post is exactly the kind of voting service the ban names, and the mechanics leave little room around it: every added vote has to arrive through an account, each account is limited to one choice per question, and the sign-in requirement ties every entry to a login. The public counter is the only record, and it counts what actually arrived. Votes from real people who each choose to take part remain the only input the format is built to record.
| Platform | Creating | Voting |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile app | Available | Available |
| New Reddit web, 2020 announcement | Enabled | Enabled |
| Mobile web | Not planned | Supported |
| Desktop web, current | Suspended | Not published |
How to do it
-
Open the mobile app
Reddit says the only method currently available for creating polls is the mobile application, so open the app rather than the desktop site, where creation is suspended.
-
Choose the poll post type
In the composer, pick the poll option among the post types. The reddit poll icon is what separates a structured question from a text discussion, and the options will sit under the question once it is live.
-
Write the question and options
Type the question, then add each option in its own field. Because options sit directly under the question in the finished post, keep each one short enough to read at a glance.
-
Set the end time
The end time must be selected at the time of posting, and a poll can remain open for up to one week. Pick the close date with that ceiling in mind, because it cannot be extended later.
-
Sign in and take part
Voting requires signing in, and each account is allowed to cast a single vote. A signed-in member taps an option, and the current results become visible straight away.
-
Read the results
After voting, the tally shows as it currently stands. A member who skips the vote sees nothing until the poll ends, so early numbers belong to participants only.
Common questions
Can you do polls on reddit?
Yes. Reddit builds polls in as a native post type, and each signed-in account casts one vote. Creation currently runs through the mobile application, because polls on the web are under construction while the platform moves the feature to a new system.
Are reddit polls anonymous?
Yes. All voting on Reddit polls is anonymous, so nobody has access to any voter's username or information during or after the vote. The creator sees the total number of votes and nothing else; the individual choices behind the number stay hidden, with no switch that unmasks a participant.
How do reddit polls work?
Each account casts a single vote, and voting requires signing in. A person who has voted sees the current results instantly, while someone who has not voted must either vote or wait until the poll ends before the tally appears. The window can run for up to one week.
Can you make a poll on reddit?
Yes, through the mobile application, which Reddit describes as the only method currently available for creating polls. On the web the feature is under construction: desktop creation is suspended while polls move to a new platform, with no published timeline for a return.
Why do reddit polls say under construction on the web?
Because the platform is rebuilding the feature. Reddit's own notice says polls on the web are under construction while the company transitions them to a new platform, and it has not provided a specific timeline for when desktop polls will be accessible again.
Do you need an account to vote in a reddit poll?
Yes. Reddit requires a signed-in account before anyone can vote or view a poll's results. Each of those accounts is allowed a single vote, so a logged-out visitor reads the post but cannot add anything to the count.
When do reddit poll results show to everyone?
Results open up in two stages. A person who has voted sees the current tally immediately after choosing an option, while everyone else must wait until the poll ends, because the results cannot be viewed early without voting.
Can you change your vote in a reddit poll?
The documented poll pages describe no way to change, remove or undo a vote once it is cast, and each account gets exactly one. Treat the choice as final once an option is tapped; deleting a post removes every vote with it, not a single one.
Where these facts come from
- Reddit. reddit.com/r/help/comments/1h1uysy/poll_voting_multiple_times/.
- Reddit. reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/fo7p5b/introducing_reddit_polls_an_allnew_post_type/.
- redditinc.com. redditinc.com/news/introducing-reddit-polls-an-all-new-post-type.
- support.reddithelp.com. support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043066412-What-constitutes-vote-cheating-or-vote-manipulation.
- Reddit. reddit.com/r/help/comments/1gdknck/polls/.
This page documents only what Reddit itself publishes about its poll feature. It carries no prices, no seller names and no instructions for bending a count: vote manipulation is prohibited in every form, and the page will never teach a way past that rule. The documented pages do not offer a way to change a vote after casting, so nothing here claims one. Where a feature is suspended or undocumented, the gap is stated, not filled.
X prohibits coordinating with or compensating others to inflate engagement metrics, and it names Polls among the features covered. The Pet Industry Business Awards name the consequence in their own contest: a business may be investigated, lose votes or be disqualified on reasonable evidence of purchased votes. No seller can stop an organiser from doing that.
Slido says it is alerted when an event gets an unusually high number of votes in a very short time, and Crowdsignal says its built-in measures detect patterns of potentially abusive voting. Ordinary participation arrives spread across the voting window, from different people at different moments. Nothing on this site is a method for getting a vote past a check, and a vote that a tool blocks does not count.
Organiser rules differ: the RSPCA Pet of the Year Awards allow extra votes through donations on their official mechanism, while OpenTable Australia treats a vote cast in exchange for money or a reward as null and void. Both are contest rules, not statutes, and whether payment is lawful where you live is a question for a lawyer. Orders are refused for any contest whose rules ban paid votes, and for political ballots.
Votes ordered for a poll that never appear on its count are refunded after the poll closes. A refund never covers an organiser's decision: Localsearch may void all votes for a disqualified nominee, and Mentimeter says a user whose access it cancels under its Acceptable Use Policy is owed no refund or compensation. No result is promised.