Plurality (voting)

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).
This article is about a majority of voters. For voting system, see Plurality voting.

A plurality vote (in North American English) or relative majority (in British English)[1] describes the circumstance when a party, candidate, or proposition polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast.[2]

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 need only a plurality, depending on the rules of the organization holding the vote.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fowler1965 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "plurality". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 2015-12-29. 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
  3. ^ Robert, Henry M. III; Honemann, Daniel H.; Balch, Thomas J. (2011). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (11 ed.). Da Capo Press. pp. 404–405. ISBN 978-0-306-82021-2.