diff --git a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
index 5faa642451d69555cb391974beb0ad22c9355c8c..b79efdb4d52bd445a67f38cbfd61d3507d2b3014 100644
--- a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
+++ b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
             ratio_right,
             explanation,
             next,
+            pool,
             form_action,
         } => {
             if form_action != "/ui" {
@@ -239,6 +240,9 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
                         .into_response();
                 }
             };
+            let pool_id = pool.as_deref().and_then(|p| {
+                crate::path_types::ItemId::parse(p.trim()).map(|i| i.normalized_storage())
+            });
             let mut rl = ratio_left.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
             let mut rr = ratio_right.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
             if rl == 0 && rr == 0 {
@@ -294,6 +298,7 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
                         &thread_tag,
                         &left_id,
                         &right_id,
+                        pool_id.as_ref(),
                         pid.as_str(),
                         post_index,
                     )
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs b/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
index 5865cfdbc06aeb6555c97380e25591fae6b3d125..1820d7fe7ee167ecbf5ad5124f23b2ab92ffb01f 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ pub(super) fn ont_pin_vote_controls(
                         }
                     }
                 } @else {
-                    a class="ont-vote-compare-btn" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, &current, None)) title="Compare and vote" {
+                    a class="ont-vote-compare-btn" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, &current, None, None)) title="Compare and vote" {
                         span class="ont-vote-glyph" aria-hidden="true" { "⚖" }
                         span { "vote" }
                     }
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ pub(super) fn child_row_pin_or_vote(
                         if nv == 1 { "" } else { "s" },
                     );
                     @let aria = format!("Vote; {} pairwise {}", nv, if nv == 1 { "vote" } else { "votes" });
-                    a class="ont-garden-vote-ico" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, row_item, None)) title=(tip) aria-label=(aria) {
+                    a class="ont-garden-vote-ico" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, row_item, None, None)) title=(tip) aria-label=(aria) {
                         span class="ont-garden-vote-glyph" aria-hidden="true" { "⚖" }
                         span class="ont-garden-vote-count" { (format!("{}", nv)) }
                     }
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/render.rs b/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
index 5c3986ca36902f6c9019a4b5590f0b3b9d2cb4ff..bd8cbce059ee789de6e8dc9b6f69f54beee2f994 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ use super::{
     item::{child_depth_from_uri, item_code_label, item_display_path, item_href},
     item_page::{build_item_page_view_model, sibling_nav_markup},
     pin::{child_row_pin_or_vote, ont_pin_vote_controls, pinned_item_from_jar},
+    vote::vote_pool_href,
 };
 
 pub(super) async fn render_scope_view(
@@ -186,12 +187,21 @@ pub(super) async fn render_scope_view(
             }
 
             section class="ont-tab-panel ont-tab-panel-children" {
+                @let total_children = model.child_rankings.component_rankings
+                    .iter().map(|c| c.ranked.len()).sum::<usize>()
+                    + model.child_rankings.unranked_items.len();
                 h3 {
                     "ranked child groups"
                     @if model.child_depth > 1 {
                         " "
                         span class="muted" { (format!("(depth {})", model.child_depth)) }
                     }
+                    @if total_children >= 2 {
+                        " "
+                        a class="ont-vote-children-btn" href=(vote_pool_href(&nav, &model.item)) {
+                            "vote on children"
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
                 @if model.child_rankings.component_rankings.is_empty() {
                     p class="muted" { "no voted pairs yet in this scope" }
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs b/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
index 6900a6795bcde866a176722149d6378e5127b4c3..c2036fca7752aef63d260e36cfe9649f63b5c550 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ fn suggest_next_vote_pair_prefers_unvoted_sibling_pair() {
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &ScopeId::Public);
     let a = ItemId::parse("~/topic/a").unwrap().normalized_storage();
     let b = ItemId::parse("~/topic/b").unwrap().normalized_storage();
-    let next = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &a, &b).expect("next sibling pair");
+    let next = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &a, &b, None).expect("next sibling pair");
     assert_ne!(
         canonical_edge_items(&next.0, &next.1),
         canonical_edge_items(&a, &b)
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs b/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
index 1d7fc8aa7436bfa9c1186dfd940a8d751ab7e088..2682cfcbd2f834b56459a02831aa225cffe67c58 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
@@ -211,14 +211,15 @@ pub(crate) async fn vote_compare_post_success_js(
     _thread_tag: &str,
     left: &ItemId,
     right: &ItemId,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
     _post_id: &str,
     _post_idx: Option<usize>,
 ) -> String {
     let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
     let edge_history = vote_edge_history_markup(content, left, right);
-    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, left, right);
-    let nav_markup = vote_compare_nav_markup(nav, next_pair.as_ref());
+    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, left, right, pool);
+    let nav_markup = vote_compare_nav_markup(nav, next_pair.as_ref(), pool);
     drop(reduced);
     JsBuilder::new()
         .morph_inner_selector("#vote-edge-history-region", edge_history)
@@ -231,27 +232,39 @@ pub(super) fn vote_compare_href(
     left: &ItemId,
     right: &ItemId,
     thread_override: Option<&str>,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> String {
     let left_q = urlencoding::encode(left.as_str());
     let right_q = urlencoding::encode(right.as_str());
-    let base = format!(
+    let mut base = format!(
         "{}/vote?left={}&right={}",
         nav.room_path_prefix_for_vote_compare(),
         left_q,
         right_q
     );
     if let Some(t) = thread_override.filter(|s| !s.is_empty()) {
-        format!("{}&thread={}", base, urlencoding::encode(t))
-    } else {
-        base
+        base = format!("{}&thread={}", base, urlencoding::encode(t));
+    }
+    if let Some(p) = pool {
+        base = format!("{}&pool={}", base, urlencoding::encode(p.as_str()));
     }
+    base
+}
+
+pub(super) fn vote_pool_href(nav: &ThreadNav, pool_item_str: &str) -> String {
+    format!(
+        "{}/vote?pool={}",
+        nav.room_path_prefix_for_vote_compare(),
+        urlencoding::encode(pool_item_str)
+    )
 }
 
 fn vote_compare_nav_markup(
     nav: &ThreadNav,
     next_pair: Option<&(ItemId, ItemId)>,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> maud::Markup {
-    let next_pair_href = next_pair.map(|(nl, nr)| vote_compare_href(nav, nl, nr, None));
+    let next_pair_href = next_pair.map(|(nl, nr)| vote_compare_href(nav, nl, nr, None, pool));
     html! {
         div class="vote-compare-nav" {
             @if let Some(href) = &next_pair_href {
@@ -267,8 +280,15 @@ pub(super) fn suggest_next_vote_pair(
     content: &ContentState,
     current_left: &ItemId,
     current_right: &ItemId,
+    pool_parent: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> Option<(ItemId, ItemId)> {
-    let pool: Vec<ItemId> = if current_left.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
+    let pool: Vec<ItemId> = if let Some(parent) = pool_parent {
+        content
+            .item_children
+            .get(parent)
+            .map(|s| s.iter().cloned().collect())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    } else if current_left.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
         == current_right.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
     {
         current_left
@@ -322,10 +342,14 @@ pub(super) fn vote_compare_item_card(
 }
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
 pub struct VoteCompareQuery {
-    pub left: String,
-    pub right: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub left: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub right: Option<String>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub thread: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub pool: Option<String>,
 }
 
 /// Public pairwise vote UI — `/vote?left=&right=&thread=`.
@@ -376,17 +400,53 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
     jar: CookieJar,
     uri: Uri,
 ) -> axum::response::Response {
-    let left = match ItemId::parse(q.left.trim()) {
-        Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
-        None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad left item").into_response(),
+    let pool_id: Option<ItemId> = match q.pool.as_deref() {
+        Some(p) => match ItemId::parse(p.trim()) {
+            Some(i) => Some(i.normalized_storage()),
+            None => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "bad pool item").into_response(),
+        },
+        None => None,
     };
-    let right = match ItemId::parse(q.right.trim()) {
-        Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
-        None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad right item").into_response(),
+
+    let (left, right) = match (q.left.as_deref(), q.right.as_deref()) {
+        (Some(l), Some(r)) => {
+            let left = match ItemId::parse(l.trim()) {
+                Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
+                None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad left item").into_response(),
+            };
+            let right = match ItemId::parse(r.trim()) {
+                Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
+                None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad right item").into_response(),
+            };
+            if left == right {
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "items must differ").into_response();
+            }
+            (left, right)
+        }
+        (None, None) => {
+            let Some(pool) = pool_id.as_ref() else {
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "provide left+right or pool").into_response();
+            };
+            let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
+            let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
+            let children: Vec<ItemId> = content
+                .item_children
+                .get(pool)
+                .map(|s| s.iter().cloned().collect())
+                .unwrap_or_default();
+            if children.len() < 2 {
+                drop(reduced);
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "pool has fewer than 2 children to compare").into_response();
+            }
+            let pair = suggest_next_pair_in_pool(&content.ranking_group, &children, None);
+            drop(reduced);
+            match pair {
+                Some(p) => p,
+                None => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "no pairs available in pool").into_response(),
+            }
+        }
+        _ => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "provide both left and right, or just pool").into_response(),
     };
-    if left == right {
-        return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "items must differ").into_response();
-    }
 
     let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
@@ -409,7 +469,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
     let left_body = content.item_bodies.get(&left).cloned();
     let right_body = content.item_bodies.get(&right).cloned();
     let item_bodies_for_cards = content.item_bodies.clone();
-    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &left, &right);
+    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &left, &right, pool_id.as_ref());
     drop(reduced);
 
     let title = format!(
@@ -432,6 +492,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
         "ratio_right": {"$form": "ratio_right"},
         "explanation": {"$form": "explanation"},
         "next": next_path,
+        "pool": pool_id.as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str()),
         "form_action": "/ui",
     }))
     .expect("vote compare rpc json");
@@ -456,7 +517,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
                 Some(&item_bodies_for_cards),
             ))
         }
-        (vote_compare_nav_markup(&nav, next_pair.as_ref()))
+        (vote_compare_nav_markup(&nav, next_pair.as_ref(), pool_id.as_ref()))
         div id="vote-edge-history-region" {
             (edge_history)
         }
diff --git a/server/src/html/ui_action.rs b/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
index dd5294202569454acf9f41b458718700bbf96f39..2589a2cc00bb7b18cd19ebcbb938083122d6921d 100644
--- a/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ pub enum HtmlUiAction {
         explanation: String,
         /// Same-origin path after successful post (JS redirect).
         next: String,
+        /// Pool parent item path, if the vote was initiated from a pool URL.
+        #[serde(default)]
+        pool: Option<String>,
         #[serde(default = "default_ui_form_action")]
         form_action: String,
     },