Plurality voting

Plurality voting is an electoral system in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality or relative majority) are elected. In other words, the rule establishes that obtaining a plurality is sufficient to win the election, since a majority (absolute majority) is not required.

Under single-winner plurality voting, in systems based on single-member districts, plurality voting is called single member [district] plurality (SMP), which is occasionally known as "first-past-the-post". In such use of plurality voting, the leading candidate, whether or not they have a majority of votes, is elected. Under all but a few niche election systems, the most-popular candidate in the first count is elected. But under systems that use ranked votes, vote tallies change and are compared at various times during the vote count process. Where votes are transferred, the system is not generally referred to as a plurality system.

Several versions of plurality voting are used in multi-member districts. The system that elects multiple winners at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts as many X votes as the number of seats in a multi-seat district is referred to as plurality block voting. A semi-proportional system that elects multiple winners elected at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts more than one vote but fewer than the number of seats to fill in a multi-seat district is known as limited voting. A semi-proportional system that elects multiple winners elected at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts just one vote in a multi-seat district is known as single non-transferable voting.

Plurality voting is widely used throughout the English-speaking world as a result of its spread by the British Empire, including in most of the United States. Overall, more countries in the world use a form of proportional representation than use plurality or a form of runoff.