Tie votes are allowed. Consider a three-way race. A plurality ballot would produce just 3 factions, each supporting 1 candidate. Such subtle differences do influence who wins by the Condorcet, LER and STV rules. So black and white differences meld into grays, then hues of some color.
More candidates add more colors.
They can forget manipulations and strategies. Some people have thought that preference ballots and their tally rules make ballot counting too hard. But that fear should no longer block the evolution of democracy. Some voters tend to pick the first item listed. Every item should get a share of these arbitrary votes so list each item at the top of some ballots.