What is the plurality rule?

During the US presidential election, the votes aren’t always split between two candidates: independent party candidates appear on the ballot as well. Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, won 4.5 million votes in 2016, for example.

But what would it actually take for one of these candidates to be elected as the next president of the United States? Does a presidential candidate simply need the plurality of the votes to win or does the candidate need a majority of all of the votes cast in order to win?

What does majority mean?

Majority is a noun that in general means “the greater part or number; the number larger than half the total.” However, in terms of voting and elections, majority is defined as “a number of voters or votes, jurors, or others in agreement, constituting more than half of the total number.” It also refers to the party or group with the majority vote.

For example: Eleanor was thrilled to win the majority of votes for class president and couldn’t believe 76% of students supported her.

In order to win the majority, the number of votes needs to be more than half or 50%.

Majority originates from the Medieval Latin word majōritās and dates back to 1545–55.

What does plurality mean?

Plurality is a noun that, like majority, can mean more than half of the whole. However when it comes to voting, plurality refers to “the excess of votes received by the leading candidate, in an election in which there are three or more candidates, over those received by the next candidate.” This means that someone who wins the plurality of votes received more than any of the other candidates but not necessarily the majority.

For example, Gabriel won the plurality for school vice president with 40 percent of votes while Kiara came in with 35 percent and Carl with 25 percent. If Gabriel had received 54%, he would have received both the majority and plurality. Starting to see the difference?

Plurality‘s fist recorded use dates back to 1325–75. It originated from the Middle English pluralite via French and the Latin term plūrālitās.

How to use each

Majority and plurality voting are two legitimate types of elections under a democracy. In the United States legislative elections, candidates generally only need a plurality and not majority to win (but not always—we see you, Georgia, Louisiana).

But for the presidential election, both the plurality and majority of votes are involved. That’s because citizens indirectly vote for president by voting for an elector from the Electoral College who will then cast their vote for a candidate. In most cases (again, there are exceptions), the presidential candidate who gets the plurality of votes in a state—the plurality winner—will receive all the electoral votes for that state.

A presidential candidate then needs an absolute majority of at least 270 votes (out of 538) from the Electoral College to be named the next president of the United States. This means that someone can lose the presidential election despite having the majority of popular votes, which are the votes cast by qualified voters in the U.S.

For example:

• Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 both won the popular votes with a plurality. But they lost their respective presidential election because they failed to win the majority of votes needed in the Electoral College to win.
• If the president vetoes a bill, it can still be passed as a law if both the House of Representatives and Senate revote. But a majority of votes isn’t enough—two-thirds of votes cast need to be in favor of overriding it.
• When Samuel J. Tilden ran for president in 1876, he not only received the plurality of popular votes but also the majority. However, he lost due to the Electoral College votes and is still the only candidate who didn’t win despite having the majority of popular votes (and not just more than his or her opposing candidate).

Now that you know how voting should work, brush up on more election terminology here!

And it never hurts to remind ourselves how we get our candidates in the first place. So, do you know the difference between a caucus and a primary, or a delegate and a superdelegate? 

From Ballotpedia

A plurality voting system is an electoral system in which the winner of an election is the candidate that received the highest number of votes. The candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected. This system is sometimes referred to as first-past-the-post or winner-take-all. This is the most common voting system used in the United States.[1][2]

• Electoral system
• Majority voting system
• Ranked-choice voting

• FairVote
• ACE: The Electoral Knowledge Network

Administrative Considerations

Social and Political Context

Delimiting Electoral Districts

Electoral Systems that Delimit Electoral Districts

Plurality Electoral Systems

Majority Electoral Systems

Proportional Systems: The Single Transferable Vote

Electoral District Alternatives

Single-Member Districts: Advantages and Disadvantages

Multimember Districts: Advantages and Disadvantages

Alignment of Districts with Administrative Boundaries

Structure and Rules for Delimiting Electoral Districts

Designation of a Boundary Authority

Composition of the Boundary Authority

Partisan Considerations in Choosing a Boundary Authority

Degrees of Boundary Authority Centralisation

Authority for Choosing the Final Districting Plan

Frequency of Electoral District Delimitation

Length of Time Permitted for the Delimitation Process

Public Access to the Delimitation Process

Establishment of Criteria for Delimiting Districts

Fairness for Political Parties and Minority Groups

Role of the Courts in Electoral District Delimitation

Tasks Involved in Drawing Electoral District Boundaries

Information Required to Draw Electoral Districts

Steps in the Electoral District Delimitation Process

Drawing District Boundaries

Preparing a Redistricting Database

Drawing Electoral District Boundaries

Describing and Evaluating an Electoral District Plan

Computer-Assisted Delimitation

Use of Computers and Software for Delimitation

Low-Technology Delimitation

Special Considerations: Delimiting Voting Areas

U.S. census population data for redistricting

U.S. election laws defining district boundaries

GIS redistricting software output

Canadian redistribution formula using 1991 census figures

Federal Redistribution in Australia

Representation in the Canadian Parliament

The United Kingdom Redistribution Process

Electoral Redistribution in New Zealand

Reapportionment and Redistricting in the United States of America

Boundary Delimitation End Notes

Boundary Delimitation Index

Also known as First Past the Post Voting System

Plurality voting is an electoral process whereby a candidate who gets the most votes in the election wins. Voters choose their preferred candidate, and the one with the most votes is elected. Plurality elections are unlike the majority voting process. In a majority election, the candidate needs to get more votes than all the other candidates combined to win. But with a plurality ballot, the candidate only needs to get the most electoral votes overall to win the election. The plurality election system is the most popular method for electing public officers, party candidates, and new organization leaders for available seats. Plurality elections are simple to run and give each one of the candidates an equal opportunity to win since the candidates don't require a majority vote. You can read more about the differences between plurality vs majority voting systems here.

Plurality voting systems have several different variations. Depending on your district’s or organization's objectives, you can choose single-member district plurality voting, multi-member district plurality voting, and instant runoff voting. The two-round system is another lesser-used election option. Depending on the type of elections you plan to hold, you may want to choose an alternative vote system such as ranked-choice voting, proportional approval voting, additional member system voting, a mixed single vote, or a single non-transferable vote. Each of these voting systems have pros and cons. It is important to understand how each system works so that you can make an educated choice on which system to use for your elections

Single-member district plurality (SMDP) is the default voting system in the United States legislative elections. In Canada and the UK, this voting system is known as "first-past-the-post." Using the single-member districts plurality electoral system, voters choose their preferred candidate from a ballot, and the one candidate with the most votes is declared the winner of the election. There's no single member plurality vote percentage or proportional threshold for candidates to surmount during the election—just one vote more than the popular candidates gets the winner over the finish line. Single-member district plurality voting is straightforward and doesn't require the complex processes that a single transferable vote, score voting systems, two-round voting systems, or ranked-choice elections require.

The multi-member district plurality system is also known as at-large or block voting. The district voting system allows voters to choose a candidate for several seats in one election. For example, with the plurality block voting, voters may choose an overall chair for an organization and select new representation for different departments simultaneously. Blocking voting can also be used to elect governors, state executives, or other political candidates depending on the electoral system's policy. Multi-member district plurality electoral systems allow minority districts to maintain their voice in the bigger picture of governance. Electoral districts plurality voting can be a major benefit to underrepresented voters. If you have a district or organization with minorities, the plurality system could be a good choice for your elections.

The instant runoff voting system ensures that the winning candidate has the support of the majority of voters in the election and the district's boundary. For this voting system, voters don’t simply choose their preferred candidate. Instead, it is a ranked-choice voting ballot and system where voters rank the candidates in order of preference. With instant voting, there is no need to conduct a runoff election to establish which one of the candidates has the majority vote. In a ranked-choice voting election, the candidate that is ranked the highest wins.

The plurality voting system is one of the simplest systems you can use to determine the winning candidate in an election. A candidate only needs to get more votes than the other candidates to be declared the winner of one of the contested seats. In a majority voting system, on the other hand, the winner needs to have more votes than all the other candidates combined. In an election where there are a lot of candidates for the contested seat, there’s a good chance that the winning candidate will have less than 50% plus one of the votes. In such cases, there can be mixed results and a runoff election will have to be conducted to establish which candidate has a clear majority of the votes.

Using a party plurality system can simplify the voting process and eliminate the need for a second round of voting. If your elections have a time limit, party plurality systems can be a good choice.

If you’re about to conduct an election at your organization, a plurality poll system may be the best voting system to use. For one, plurality polls are understood by most voters. After all, this is the default voting process in the United States for executives, state legislatures, and electing other officials. Plurality elections also provide a quick and clean resolution to any election. You don’t have to conduct more than one round of elections, which means fewer monetary and operational resources will be required during the electoral process. 

On the flip side, plurality elections may result in the election of a candidate with very low voter buy-in. For example, if there are five candidates, the winning candidate may only have the support of 20% plus one of the voters. Low approval of the elected candidate may be a concern for some organizations or districts. But this disadvantage of plurality elections may be overcome by voting systems like instant runoff. If electing a candidate that doesn't have the majority vote is an issue, you could also use a transferable vote system, candidates ranked-choice voting, or a majority vote system.

With plurality voting, voters select one or more candidates on their ballot. During the election, voters will elect one out of five presidential candidates, elect three directors from seven candidates, or choose yes or no to a bylaw amendment. The voter will indicate their choice of candidate on a ballot that will be counted in the election. Plurality elections are commonly used throughout North America for civic, state, provincials, and federal elections.

The plurality vote is counted using a vote counting algorithm. Each ballot is counted, and the candidate or candidates with the highest percentage of votes wins. In elections with more than two candidates, a majority of the votes (greater than 50% of the total) is not needed to win the desired seats. For example, after an election is run, if candidate one has 25 votes, candidate two has 35 votes, and candidate three has 40 votes, candidate three wins the election even though they only have 40% of the total votes cast.

The choice of each voter matters when using the plurality voting system. When running an election for multiple seats (such as when three directors are elected from seven candidates) the candidate with the highest percentage will win the first seat, the second-highest percentage wins the second seat, and so on, until all seats are filled.

Create and test a plurality ballot in ElectionBuddy for free.