Plurality voting, or first-past-the-post, is a voting system that selects the winning candidate based on which candidate has the most votes. It is a simple and familiar system to many voters.
How the Results are Calculated
Multiple Candidates for 1 Vacancy
The candidate, or options, with the highest percentage of votes among the counted ballots, is declared the winner. For votes with 2 or more candidates, winning a majority of the total ballots is not required to win. For example, in a 3-person content, a candidate with only 40% of the total ballots, would still be declared the winner if the other two candidates received 25% and 35% of the total ballots.
Multiple Candidates for 2 or more Vacancies
When running a multi-seat vote 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.
Yes/No Questions
ElectionBuddy can be used for passing a Bylaw Amendment, approving a slate, and acclamation of a single candidate for an executive position. The choice with the most votes at the end of the votes wins. If you're just doing a referendum with two choices, this will naturally be the choice with the majority (i.e. the choice with greater than 50% of the votes).
Plurality Voting is used for a wide variety of voting situations including:
- Multiple Candidates for Two or more Vacancies
- Yes/No Voting
- Bylaw amendments or contract ratifications
- Ratification of unopposed candidates
- Approval or disapproval of a slate
See Voting Systems and Calculating Winners to read about other voting and tally methods.
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