Editing Plurality (voting) (section)

{{Short description|Poll most votes, but less than half overall}}
{{about|a majority of voters|voting system|Plurality voting}}
[[File:Plurality versus Majority.png|thumb|right|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).]]
A '''plurality vote''' (in [[North American English]]) or '''relative majority''' (in [[British English]])<ref name="Fowler1965" /> describes the circumstance when a [[political party|party]], [[candidate]], or [[Ballot proposition|proposition]] polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plurality |title = plurality |work = Merriam-Webster Dictionary |access-date=2015-12-29 |quote = 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 }}</ref>

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 election contests, the winning candidate or proposition may need only a plurality, depending on the rules of the organization holding the vote.<ref name="Robert">{{cite book |title=Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised |last1=Robert |first1=Henry M. III |last2=Honemann |first2=Daniel H. |last3=Balch |first3=Thomas J. |year=2011 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-82021-2 |edition=11 |pages = 404–405 }}</ref>