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{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Electoral systems}}{{Merge from|First-past-the-post voting|date=February
'''Plurality voting''' refers to [[electoral system]]s in which a candidate who polls more than any other (that is, receives a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]]) is elected. In systems based on [[single-member district]]s, it elects just one member per district and may also be referred to as [[first-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] ('''FPTP'''), '''single-member plurality''' ('''SMP/SMDP'''),<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Plurality-Majority Systems |url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/BeginnningReading/plurality.htm |access-date=8 May 2010 |publisher=Mtholyoke.edu}}</ref> or '''single-choice
Plurality voting is distinguished from ''majority voting'', in which a winning candidate must receive an [[Majority|absolute majority]] of votes: more than half of all votes (more than all other candidates combined if each voter has one vote). Under single-winner plurality voting, the leading candidate, whether or not they have a majority of votes, is elected.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Duane |last2=Zillante |first2=Arthur |date=January 2012 |title=A comparison of cumulative voting and generalized plurality voting |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-010-9707-5 |journal=Public Choice |language=en |volume=150 |issue=1–2 |pages=363–383 |doi=10.1007/s11127-010-9707-5 |issn=0048-5829 |s2cid=154416463
▲'''Plurality voting''' refers to [[electoral system]]s in which a candidate who polls more than any other (that is, receives a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]]) is elected. In systems based on [[single-member district]]s, it elects just one member per district and may also be referred to as [[first-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] ('''FPTP'''), '''single-member plurality''' ('''SMP/SMDP'''),<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Plurality-Majority Systems |url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/BeginnningReading/plurality.htm |access-date=8 May 2010 |publisher=Mtholyoke.edu}}</ref> '''single-choice voting'''{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} (an imprecise term as non-plurality voting systems may also use a single choice), '''simple plurality''' {{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} or '''relative majority''' (as opposed to an ''absolute majorit''y, where more than half of votes is needed, this is called ''majority voting''). A system that elects multiple winners elected at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts multiple X votes 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 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. Outside of the English-speaking world, it is slightly less popular than its close cousin, the [[Runoff voting|runoff family of methods]].
▲Plurality voting is distinguished from ''majority voting'', in which a winning candidate must receive an [[Majority|absolute majority]] of votes: more than half of all votes (more than all other candidates combined if each voter has one vote). Under single-winner plurality voting, the leading candidate, whether or not they have a majority of votes, is elected.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Duane |last2=Zillante |first2=Arthur |date=January 2012 |title=A comparison of cumulative voting and generalized plurality voting |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-010-9707-5 |journal=Public Choice |language=en |volume=150 |issue=1–2 |pages=363–383 |doi=10.1007/s11127-010-9707-5 |issn=0048-5829 |s2cid=154416463}}</ref> Not every single-winner [[Majoritarian representation|winner-takes-all]] system is plurality voting; for example, [[instant-runoff voting]] is a non-plurality winner-takes-all system, because not all votes are taken as initially cast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instant Run-Off Voting |url=http://archive.fairvote.org/factshts/irv.htm |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=archive.fairvote.org}}</ref>
[[Social choice theory|Social choice theorists]] and [[Electoral reform|electoral reform advocates]] are generally opposed to plurality voting and its variants, citing major issues such as a high vulnerability to [[Spoiler effect|spoilers]], a [[Duverger's law|tendency towards duopoly]] and [[Sincere favorite criterion|lesser of two evils]] voting, and their bias toward extremist candidates (as a result of failing the [[median voter theorem]]).
== Voting ==▼
▲==Voting==
In single-winner plurality voting, each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the winner of the election is the candidate who represents a plurality of voters or, in other words, received more votes than any other candidate. That makes plurality voting among the simplest of all electoral systems for voters and vote counting officials;<ref name=":7" /> however, the drawing of district boundary lines can be [[Gerrymandering|contentious]] in the plurality system.
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