See also
Look up majority in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
A majority is more than half of a total. [1] It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a group consists of 31 individuals, a majority would be 16 or more individuals, while having 15 or fewer individuals would not constitute a majority.
A majority is different from, but often confused with, a plurality, [note 1] which is a subset larger than any other subset but not necessarily more than half the set. For example, if there is a group with 20 members which is divided into subgroups with 9, 6, and 5 members, then the 9-member group would be the plurality, but would not be a majority (as they have less than ten members).
In parliamentary procedure, a majority always means precisely "more than half". Other common definitions (e.g. the frequent 50%+1) are incorrect (see "Common errors" below). [1] : 4
Depending on the parliamentary authority used, there may be a difference in the total that is used to calculate a majority vote due to spoiled votes. [2] In Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (abbreviated RONR), spoiled votes are counted as votes cast, but are not credited to any candidate. [2] In The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (abbreviated TSC), spoiled votes are not included in the total and a majority vote is defined as being more than half of all eligible votes cast. [3]
As it relates to a vote, a majority vote most often means a simple majority vote, which means more "yes" votes than "no" votes. [4] [5] Abstentions or blanks are excluded in calculating a simple majority vote. [1] : 6 Also, the totals do not include votes cast by someone not entitled to vote or improper multiple votes by a single member. [2]
Other related terms containing the word "majority" have their own meanings, which may sometimes be inconsistent in usage. [6]
In British English, the term "size of a majority", "overall majority", or "working majority" is sometimes used to mean the difference between the number of legislators in the government and a simple majority of seats (half the seats, rounded up). [7] This has led to some confusion and misuse of the terms "majority" or "relative majority" to mean what is correctly called the margin of victory, i.e. the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher. [8]
A "double majority" is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria. [6] e.g. in the European Union, the Council uses a double majority rule, requiring 55% of member states, representing at least 65% of the total EU population in favor. In some cases, the required percentage of member states in favor is increased to 72%. [9]
A "supermajority" is a specified threshold greater than one half. [6] A common use of a supermajority is a "two-thirds vote", which is sometimes referred to as a "two-thirds majority".
The voting basis refers to the set of members considered when calculating whether a proposal has a majority, [10] i.e. the denominator used in calculating the percent support for a vote. Common voting bases include:
For example, assume that votes are cast for three people for an office: Alice, Bob, and Carol. In all three scenarios, Alice receives a plurality, or the most votes among the candidates, [19] but in some she does not receive a majority.
| Candidate | Votes |
|---|---|
| Alice | 14 |
| Bob | 4 |
| Carol | 2 |
| Total | 20 |
In Scenario 1, Alice received a majority of the vote. There were 20 votes cast and Alice received more than half of them.
| Candidate | Votes |
|---|---|
| Alice | 10 |
| Bob | 6 |
| Carol | 4 |
| Total | 20 |
In Scenario 2, assume all three candidates are eligible. In this case, no one received a majority of the vote.
| Candidate | Votes |
|---|---|
| Alice | 10 |
| Bob | 6 |
| Carol (ineligible) | 4 |
| Total | 20 |
In Scenario 3, assume that Alice and Bob are eligible candidates, but Carol is not. Using Robert's Rules of Order , no one received a majority vote, which is the same as Scenario 2. In this case, the 4 votes for Carol are counted in the total, but are not credited to Carol (which precludes the possibility of an ineligible candidate being credited with receiving a majority vote). However, using The Standard Code , Alice received a majority vote since only votes for eligible candidates are counted. In this case, there are 16 votes for eligible candidates and Alice received more than half of those 16 votes.
A temporary majority exists when the positions of the members present and voting in a meeting of a deliberative assembly on a subject are not representative of the membership as a whole. Parliamentary procedure contains some provisions designed to protect against a temporary majority violating the rights of absentees. For instance, previous notice is typically required to rescind, repeal or annul something previously adopted by a majority vote. [20] However, in this and many other cases, previous notice is not required if a majority of the entire membership votes in favor, because that indicates that it is clearly not a temporary majority. Another protection against a decision being made by a temporary majority is the motion to reconsider and enter on the minutes, by which two members can suspend action on a measure until it is called up at a meeting on another day. [21]
The expression "at least 50% +1" is often misused when "majority" is actually intended. [1] : 4 However, this is incorrect when the total number referred to is odd. For example, say a board has 7 members. "Majority" means "at least 4" in this case (more than half of 7, which is 3.5). But 50% + 1 is 4.5, and since a number of people can only be integer, "at least 50% + 1" would mean "at least 5". An example of the expression's misuse to refer to a majority is the 50+1 rule.
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other are elected.
The two-round system, also called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single winner voting method. It is sometimes called plurality-runoff, although this term can also be used for other, closely-related systems such as instant-runoff voting or the exhaustive ballot. It falls under the class of plurality-based voting rules, together with instant-runoff and first-past-the-post (FPP). In a two-round system, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round proceed to a second round where all other candidates are excluded. Both rounds are held under choose-one voting, where the voter marks a single favored candidate.
Voting refers to the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representatives by voting.
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision making body. Usually, an assembly or organization sends matters to a committee as a way to explore them more fully than would be possible if the whole assembly or organization were considering them. Committees may have different functions and their types of work differ depending on the type of organization and its needs.
Block or bloc voting refers to a class of electoral systems where multiple candidates are elected simultaneously. They do not guarantee minority representation and allow a group of voters to ensure that only their preferred candidates are elected. In these systems, a voter can select as many candidates as there are open seats. That is, the voter has as many votes to cast as the number of seats to fill. The block voting systems are among various election systems available for use in multi-member districts where the voting system allows for the selection of multiple winners at once.
A plurality vote or relative majority 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.
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly, a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of that group. In contrast, a plenum is a meeting of the full body. A body, or a meeting or vote of it, is quorate if a quorum is present.
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, they can be appended to the constitution as supplemental additions, thus changing the frame of government without altering the existing text of the document.
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken. Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature. Parliamentary procedure requires that any action of a deliberative assembly that may alter the rights of a minority have a supermajority requirement, such as a two-thirds vote. In consensus democracy the supermajority rule is applied in most cases.
In social choice theory, the majority rule (MR) is a social choice rule which says that, when comparing two options, the option preferred by more than half of the voters should win.
An electoraldistrict, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a subdivision of a larger state created to provide its population with representation in the larger state's legislature. That body, or the state's constitution or a body established for that purpose, determines each district's boundaries and whether each will be represented by a single member or multiple members. Generally, only voters (constituents) who reside within the district are permitted to vote in an election held there. District representatives may be elected by a first-past-the-post system, a proportional representative system, or another voting method. They may be selected by a direct election under universal suffrage, an indirect election, or another form of suffrage.
Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with "blank vote", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by marking it wrongly or by not marking anything at all. A "blank voter" has voted, although their vote may be considered a spoilt vote, depending on each legislation, while an abstaining voter has not voted. Both forms may or may not, depending on the circumstances, be considered to be a protest vote. Abstention is related to political apathy and low voter turnout.
The majority criterion is a voting system criterion applicable to voting rules over ordinal preferences required that if only one candidate is ranked first by over 50% of voters, that candidate must win.
In electoral systems, a wasted vote is any vote cast that is not "used" to elect a winner, and so is not represented in the outcome. However, the term is vague and ill-defined, having been used to refer to a wide variety of unrelated concepts and metrics. The precise definition of a wasted vote can have a major impact on the conclusions of an analysis. For example, under the narrowest possible definition of a wasted vote, the single transferable vote (STV) can be considered to waste zero votes. However, if the wasted vote definition is expanded even slightly, it is possible for up to 100% of STV votes to be classified as wasted because STV fails the unanimity criterion; that is, it is possible to elect a legislature that every single voter agrees is worse than some alternative.
The exhaustive ballot is a voting system used to elect a single winner. Under the exhaustive ballot the elector casts a single vote for his or her chosen candidate. However, if no candidate is supported by an overall majority of votes then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and a further round of voting occurs. This process is repeated for as many rounds as necessary until one candidate has a majority.
Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions – use several methods of voting on motions. The regular methods of voting in such bodies are a voice vote, a rising vote, and a show of hands. Additional forms of voting include a recorded vote and balloting.
Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates divide into parties is that the most-popular party in the district sees its full slate of candidates elected, even if the party does not have support of majority of the voters.
Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a single-winner, multi-round elimination rule that uses ranked voting to simulate a series of runoffs with only one vote. In each round, the candidate with the fewest votes counting towards them is eliminated, and the votes are transferred to their next available preference until one of the options reaches a majority of the remaining votes. Instant runoff falls under the plurality-with-elimination family of voting methods, and is thus closely related to rules like the exhaustive ballot and two-round runoff system.
In the United States, a contingent election is used to elect the president or vice president if no candidate receives a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. A presidential contingent election is decided by a special vote of the United States House of Representatives, while a vice-presidential contingent election is decided by a vote of the United States Senate. During a contingent election in the House, each state delegation votes en bloc to choose the president instead of representatives voting individually. Senators, by contrast, cast votes individually for vice president.
The word majority means "more than half"; and when the term majority vote is used without qualification—as in the case of the basic requirement—it means more than half of the votes cast by persons entitled to vote, excluding blanks or abstentions, at a regular or properly called meeting.
