"Preference order" refers to ranking or listing things in the order of someone's personal choices or favorites. It shows the priority or the order of preference of different options or alternatives. Full definition
Under a nondominating preference structure, there is no simple way to strictly rank - order the consumer preferences, because consumers will exhibit different preference ordering for different attributes, Chhajed said. (sciencedaily.com)
Danny suggested a referendum on the most modest form of electoral reform - the Alternative Vote (AV), which allowed candidates to be ranked in preference order and required MPs to secure 50 per cent of the vote to be elected - linked to Lib Dem support for the Conservatives» own reform plan, which was to reduce the number of parliamentary seats and to remove Labour over-representation. (dailymail.co.uk)
Ultimately the government will have to choose between large numbers of voters choosing pre-determined preference orderings by voting above the line or large numbers of voters having their preferences ignored because they did not express them properly on the ballot paper. (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)