A member server may be assigned an election priority (by ordering the server within the list of other member servers in the group, in ICE Desktop settings). The election priority determines the number of votes that the server assigns itself when balloting. A higher priority results in more votes, implying that the server will be elected ahead of other servers whenever the higher-priority server is online.

To assure a server will never be elected leader, it can be taken out of service (toggle the "Enabled" switch to off, in ICE Desktop settings). When a server has been taken out of service it will be assigned a negative priority which is interpreted by the leader election algorithm as out of service. Out of service member servers will continue to vote in leader elections, so their vote counts toward reaching a quorum.