Plurality (voting) - Revision history

StellaWindsor21: reworked lead based on references

2025-12-15T13:08:50Z

reworked lead based on references

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:38, 15 December 2025
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	[[File:Plurality_versus_Majority.png\|thumb\|right\|Pie charts illustrating the difference between a mere plurality (where the green/bottom area is less than 50% of the total area) and a majority (where the green/bottom area is greater than 50% of the total area of the pie chart).]]
	{{Short description\|Poll most votes, but less than half overall}}		{{Short description\|Poll most votes, but less than half overall}}
	A '''plurality vote''' (in [[American English]]) or '''relative majority''' (in ~~the United Kingdom and Commonwealth~~)<ref name="Fowler1965" /> describes the circumstance when a [[political party\|party]], [[candidate]], or [[Ballot proposition\|proposition]] polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast.<ref>{{cite web \|url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plurality \|title = plurality \|work = Merriam-Webster Dictionary \|access-date=2015-12-29 \|quote = a number of votes that is more than the number of votes for any other candidate or party but that is not more than half of the total number of votes }}</ref>		{{about\|a majority of voters\|voting system\|Plurality voting}}
			[[File:Plurality versus Majority.svg\|thumb\|Pie charts illustrating the difference between a mere plurality (where the green/bottom area is less than 50% of the total area) and a majority (where the green/bottom area is greater than 50% of the total area of the pie chart).]]
			A '''plurality vote''' (in [[North American English]]) or '''relative majority''' (in [[British English]])<ref name="Fowler1965" /> describes the circumstance when a [[political party\|party]], [[candidate]], or [[Ballot proposition\|proposition]] polls more votes than any other but does not receive a ''[[majority]]'' or more than half of all votes cast.<ref>{{cite web \|url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plurality \|title = plurality \|work = Merriam-Webster Dictionary \|access-date=2015-12-29 \|quote = a number of votes that is more than the number of votes for any other candidate or party but that is not more than half of the total number of votes }}</ref>

	For example, if from 100 votes that were cast, 45 were for ''~~Candidate~~ A'', 30 were for ''~~Candidate~~ B'' and 25 were for ''~~Candidate~~ C'', then ''~~Candidate~~ A'' received a plurality of votes but not a majority. In some ~~votes~~, the winning candidate or proposition may ~~have~~ only a plurality, depending on the rules of the organization holding the vote.<ref name="Robert">{{cite book \|title=Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised \|last1=Robert \|first1=Henry M. III \|last2=Honemann \|first2=Daniel H. \|last3=Balch \|first3=Thomas J. \|year=2011 \|publisher=Da Capo Press \|isbn=978-0-306-82021-2 \|edition=11 \|pages = 404–405 }}</ref>		For example, if from 100 votes that were cast, 45 were for ''candidate A'', 30 were for ''candidate B'' and 25 were for ''candidate C'', then ''candidate A'' received a plurality of votes but not a majority. In some election contests, the winning candidate or proposition may need only a plurality, depending on the rules of the organization holding the vote.<ref name="Robert">{{cite book \|title=Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised \|last1=Robert \|first1=Henry M. III \|last2=Honemann \|first2=Daniel H. \|last3=Balch \|first3=Thomas J. \|year=2011 \|publisher=Da Capo Press \|isbn=978-0-306-82021-2 \|edition=11 \|pages = 404–405 }}</ref>

	== Versus majority ==		== Versus majority ==
	In international institutional law, a "simple majority" (also a ~~"[[Majority#Majority vote\|majority]]"~~) ~~vote~~ is ~~more than half~~ of ~~the~~ votes cast (disregarding abstentions) ''among'' alternatives; a ~~"qualified~~ majority~~" (also a "[[supermajority]]")~~ is a ~~number of votes above~~ a ~~specified percentage (e.g. two-thirds); a "relative majority"~~ (~~also a "plurality") is the number of votes obtained that is greater~~ than ~~any other option; and~~ an "absolute majority" is a number of votes "greater than the number of votes that possibly can be obtained at the same time for any other solution",{{NoteTag\|For example, 50 voters elect six office holders from a field of 11 candidates, thereby casting 300 votes. The largest ''absolute majority'' in ~~this scenario would be 50 voters casting all their ballots for the same six candidates, which at 300~~ votes ~~would be substantially higher~~ than ~~the ''simple majority'' of 151 votes—a result that no individual candidate can achieve~~, ~~since the most votes any one can receive is 50. With the smallest absolute majority in this scenario~~, ~~the six winners would receive 28 votes each, totaling 168, and the [[Runner-up\|runners-up]] would receive either 27 or 26 votes each.}} when voting for ''multiple'' alternatives at a time~~.<ref>{{cite ~~book~~ \|last1=~~Schermers~~\|first1=~~Henry G~~. \|last2=~~Blokker~~\|first2=~~Niels M.~~\|~~title~~= ~~International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity~~\|~~publisher~~=~~Martinus Nijhoff Publishers~~\|~~edition~~=5\|~~year~~=~~2011\|isbn=978-9004187986~~ \|url = https://~~books~~.~~google~~.~~com~~/~~books?id=OMXToQLp21UC&q=relative+~~majority ~~}}</ref>{{NoteTag\|An "~~absolute majority~~" can also mean a "[[Supermajority#Majority of the entire membership~~\|~~majority of the entire membership]]"~~, a ~~[[voting basis]] that requires that more than half of ''all'' the members of a body (including those absent~~ and ~~those present but not voting) to vote in favour of a proposition in order for it to be passed.~~}}		In international institutional law, a ''simple majority'' (also a ''plurality'') is the largest number of votes cast (disregarding abstentions) ''among'' alternatives. In many jurisdictions, a simple majority is a stronger requirement than a plurality (yet weaker than an ''absolute majority'') in that more votes than half cast, excluding abstentions, are required.<ref>{{cite journal \| url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0951629809347557?journalCode=jtpa \| doi=10.1177/0951629809347557 \| title=The Properties of Simple Vs. Absolute Majority Rule: Cases Where Absences and Abstentions Are Important \| date=2010 \| last1=Dougherty \| first1=Keith L. \| last2=Edward \| first2=Julian \| journal=Journal of Theoretical Politics \| volume=22 \| pages=85–122 \| url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web \| url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice/questions/in-parliament-which-votes-require-a-simple-majority-and-which-votes-require-an-absolute-majority \| title=In Parliament, which votes require a simple majority and which votes require an absolute majority? - Parliamentary Education Office }}</ref>

	[[Henry Watson Fowler]] suggested that the American terms "plurality" and "majority" offer single-word alternatives for the corresponding two-word terms in British English, "relative majority" and "absolute majority", and that in British English "majority" is sometimes understood to mean "receiving the most votes" and can therefore be confused with "plurality".<ref name="Fowler1965">{{cite book \|last=Fowler \|first=Henry Watson \|author-link=Henry Watson Fowler \|title=[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage]]\|publisher=Oxford University Press \|edition=2 \|year=1965 \|location=Oxford\|page = 725 \|isbn=0-19-953534-5 }}</ref>{{~~NoteTag~~\|"With three-cornered contests as common as they now are, we may have occasion to find a convenient single word for what we used to call an ''absolute majority''... In America the word ''majority'' itself has that meaning while a poll greater than that of any other candidate, but less than half the votes cast is called a ''plurality.'' It might be useful to borrow this distinction..." —Henry Watson Fowler}} [[~~William Poundstone~~]] ~~observes that systems which allow choosing by a plurality of votes are more vulnerable to the~~ [[~~spoiler effect~~]]~~—where two or more similar choices each draw fewer~~ votes than a ~~dissimilar choice that would have lost~~ to ~~any individual similar choice on its own—than systems which require a majority.<ref>{{cite book \|last=Poundstone\|first=William\|title=Gaming~~ the ~~Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It)\|publisher=Macmillan \|url = https://books.google~~.~~com/books?id=hbxL3A-pWagC&q=plurality \|year=2009 \|location=New York \|page=352 \|isbn=978-1-4299-5764-9 }}</ref>~~		An ''absolute majority'' (also a ''[[Majority#Majority vote\|majority]]'') is a number of votes "greater than the number of votes that possibly can be obtained at the same time for any other solution",{{Efn\|For example, 50 voters elect six office holders from a field of 11 candidates, thereby casting 300 votes. The largest ''absolute majority'' in this scenario would be 50 voters casting all their ballots for the same six candidates, which at 300 votes would be substantially higher than the ''simple majority'' of 151 votes—a result that no individual candidate can achieve, since the most votes any one can receive is 50. With the smallest absolute majority in this scenario, the six winners would receive 28 votes each, totaling 168, and the [[Runner-up\|runners-up]] would receive either 27 or 26 votes each.}} when voting for ''multiple'' alternatives at a time<ref>{{cite book \|last1=Schermers\|first1=Henry G. \|authorlink1=Henry G. Schermers \|last2=Blokker\|first2=Niels M. \|title= International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity\|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers\|edition=5\|year=2011\|isbn=978-9004187986 \|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OMXToQLp21UC&q=relative+majority }}</ref>{{Efn\|An ''absolute majority'' can also mean a "[[Supermajority#Majority of the entire membership\|majority of the entire membership]]", a [[voting basis]] that requires that more than half of ''all'' the members of a body (including those absent and those present but not voting) to vote in favour of a proposition in order for it to be passed.}}

			A ''qualified majority'' (also a ''[[supermajority]]'') is a number of votes above a specified percentage (e.g. two-thirds); a ''relative majority'' (also a ''plurality'') is the number of votes obtained that is greater than any other option.

			[[Henry Watson Fowler]] suggested that the American terms ''plurality'' and ''majority'' offer single-word alternatives for the corresponding two-word terms in British English, ''relative majority'' and ''absolute majority'', and that in British English ''majority'' is sometimes understood to mean "receiving the most votes" and can therefore be confused with ''plurality''.<ref name="Fowler1965">{{cite book \|last=Fowler \|first=Henry Watson \|author-link=Henry Watson Fowler \|title=[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage]]\|publisher=Oxford University Press \|edition=2 \|year=1965 \|location=Oxford\|page = 725 \|isbn=0-19-953534-5 }}</ref>{{Efn\|"With three-cornered contests as common as they now are, we may have occasion to find a convenient single word for what we used to call an ''absolute majority''... In America the word ''majority'' itself has that meaning while a poll greater than that of any other candidate, but less than half the votes cast is called a ''plurality.'' It might be useful to borrow this distinction..." —Henry Watson Fowler}}

			In strict electoral sense (especially in American English) the terms ''[[#top\|plurality]]'' and ''[[majority]]'' can not overlap and are mutually exclusive. A ''plurality'' refers to receiving the most votes but less than half of the total, whereas a ''majority'' refers to receiving the most votes exceeding half of the total.

	== See also ==		== See also ==
	*[[Plurality voting system]]		* [[Plurality voting system]]
	*[[Plurality-at-large voting]]		* [[Plurality-at-large voting]]
	*[[Plurality opinion]]		* [[Plurality opinion]]
	*[[Voting system]]		* [[Voting system]]

	== Notes ==		== Notes ==
	{{~~NoteFoot~~}}		{{Notelist}}

	== References ==		== References ==

AnnisMatthews: Page designed.

2022-10-17T21:10:30Z

Page designed.

New page

[[File:Plurality_versus_Majority.png|thumb|right|Pie charts illustrating the difference between a mere plurality (where the green/bottom area is less than 50% of the total area) and a majority (where the green/bottom area is greater than 50% of the total area of the pie chart).]]
{{Short description|Poll most votes, but less than half overall}}
A '''plurality vote''' (in [[American English]]) or '''relative majority''' (in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth)<ref name="Fowler1965" /> describes the circumstance when a [[political party|party]], [[candidate]], or [[Ballot proposition|proposition]] polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plurality |title = plurality |work = Merriam-Webster Dictionary |access-date=2015-12-29 |quote = a number of votes that is more than the number of votes for any other candidate or party but that is not more than half of the total number of votes }}</ref>

For example, if from 100 votes that were cast, 45 were for ''Candidate A'', 30 were for ''Candidate B'' and 25 were for ''Candidate C'', then ''Candidate A'' received a plurality of votes but not a majority. In some votes, the winning candidate or proposition may have only a plurality, depending on the rules of the organization holding the vote.<ref name="Robert">{{cite book |title=Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised |last1=Robert |first1=Henry M. III |last2=Honemann |first2=Daniel H. |last3=Balch |first3=Thomas J. |year=2011 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-82021-2 |edition=11 |pages = 404–405 }}</ref>

== Versus majority ==
In international institutional law, a "simple majority" (also a "[[Majority#Majority vote|majority]]") vote is more than half of the votes cast (disregarding abstentions) ''among'' alternatives; a "qualified majority" (also a "[[supermajority]]") is a number of votes above a specified percentage (e.g. two-thirds); a "relative majority" (also a "plurality") is the number of votes obtained that is greater than any other option; and an "absolute majority" is a number of votes "greater than the number of votes that possibly can be obtained at the same time for any other solution",{{NoteTag|For example, 50 voters elect six office holders from a field of 11 candidates, thereby casting 300 votes. The largest ''absolute majority'' in this scenario would be 50 voters casting all their ballots for the same six candidates, which at 300 votes would be substantially higher than the ''simple majority'' of 151 votes—a result that no individual candidate can achieve, since the most votes any one can receive is 50. With the smallest absolute majority in this scenario, the six winners would receive 28 votes each, totaling 168, and the [[Runner-up|runners-up]] would receive either 27 or 26 votes each.}} when voting for ''multiple'' alternatives at a time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schermers|first1=Henry G. |last2=Blokker|first2=Niels M.|title= International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|edition=5|year=2011|isbn=978-9004187986 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OMXToQLp21UC&q=relative+majority }}</ref>{{NoteTag|An "absolute majority" can also mean a "[[Supermajority#Majority of the entire membership|majority of the entire membership]]", a [[voting basis]] that requires that more than half of ''all'' the members of a body (including those absent and those present but not voting) to vote in favour of a proposition in order for it to be passed.}}

[[Henry Watson Fowler]] suggested that the American terms "plurality" and "majority" offer single-word alternatives for the corresponding two-word terms in British English, "relative majority" and "absolute majority", and that in British English "majority" is sometimes understood to mean "receiving the most votes" and can therefore be confused with "plurality".<ref name="Fowler1965">{{cite book |last=Fowler |first=Henry Watson |author-link=Henry Watson Fowler |title=[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage]]|publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2 |year=1965 |location=Oxford|page = 725 |isbn=0-19-953534-5 }}</ref>{{NoteTag|"With three-cornered contests as common as they now are, we may have occasion to find a convenient single word for what we used to call an ''absolute majority''... In America the word ''majority'' itself has that meaning while a poll greater than that of any other candidate, but less than half the votes cast is called a ''plurality.'' It might be useful to borrow this distinction..." —Henry Watson Fowler}} [[William Poundstone]] observes that systems which allow choosing by a plurality of votes are more vulnerable to the [[spoiler effect]]—where two or more similar choices each draw fewer votes than a dissimilar choice that would have lost to any individual similar choice on its own—than systems which require a majority.<ref>{{cite book |last=Poundstone|first=William|title=Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It)|publisher=Macmillan |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hbxL3A-pWagC&q=plurality |year=2009 |location=New York |page=352 |isbn=978-1-4299-5764-9 }}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Plurality voting system]]
*[[Plurality-at-large voting]]
*[[Plurality opinion]]
*[[Voting system]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{-}}
{{Majorities}}

[[Category:Majority]]
[[Category:Voting theory]]