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A plurality vote (in
A plurality vote (in North American English
North American English (NAmE) encompasses the English language as spoken in both the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), vocabulary, and grammar ...
) or relative majority (in British English
British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
) describes the circumstance when a party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
, candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...
, or proposition
A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. It is a central concept in the philosophy of language, semantics, logic, and related fields. Propositions are the object s denoted by declarative sentences; for example, "The sky ...
polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast.
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.
Versus majority
In international institutional law, a ''simple majority'' (also a ''plurality'') is the largest number of votes cast (disregarding abstentions) ''among'' alternatives, always true when only two are in the competition. In some circles, a majority means more than half of the total including abstentions. However, in many jurisdictions, a simple majority is defined as more votes than half cast, excluding abstentions, are required. Thus, it is a stronger requirement than plurality (yet weaker than ''absolute majority''). An ''absolute majority'' (also a '' 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", when voting for ''multiple'' alternatives at a time A ''qualified majority'' (also a ''supermajority
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...
'') 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''.
See also
* Plurality voting system * Plurality-at-large voting * Plurality opinion *Voting system
An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...
Notes
References
{{Majorities Majority Voting theory