As I recall form last election, there were many different forms/ways to vote and tally them. The simplest and most recognizable (at least to an American) is each person gets one vote, and winner takes all.
With majority rule, those who are unfamiliar with voting theory are often surprised that another voting system exists, or that disagreements may exist over the definition of what it means to be supported by a majority. Depending on the meaning chosen, the common "majority rule" systems can produce results that the majority does not support. If every election had only two choices, the winner would be determined using majority rule alone. However, when there are three or more options, there may not be a single option that is most liked or most disliked by a majority. A simple choice does not allow voters to express the ordering or the intensity of their feeling. Different voting systems may give very different results, particularly in cases where there is no clear majority preference. — Wikipedia
The above quoted article should be a good base to start from for those unfamiliar with different voting theories. For a quick table of options and comparisons, please see this table.