Editing Plurality voting (section)

{{Short description|Type of electoral system}}
{{Split|date=May 2024|First past the post|Plurality (voting)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Electoral systems}}
'''Plurality voting''' refers to [[electoral system]]s in which the candidates in an [[electoral district]] who poll more than any other (that is, receive a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]]) are elected.{{sfn | Mudambi | Navarra | Nicosia | 1996 | p=341}}

Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on [[single-member district]]s, plurality voting is called single member [district] plurality (SMP),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Single Member Plurality |url=https://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/101/SMP.html |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=www.sfu.ca}}</ref><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> which is widely known as "[[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]]". In SMP/FPTP 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|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

There are several versions of plurality voting for multi-member district.<ref name="Plurality Electoral Systems —">{{Cite web |title=Plurality Electoral Systems — |url=https://aceproject.org/main/english/bd/bda01a.htm |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=aceproject.org}}</ref> The system that elects multiple winners at once with the plurality rule and where each voter casts as many X votes as the number of seats 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 more than one vote but fewer than the number of seats to fill in a multi-seat district is known as [[limited 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 less popular{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} than its close relatives in the [[Runoff voting (disambiguation)|runoff family of methods]]. Overall, more countries in the world use a form of [[proportional representation]] than use plurality or a form of runoff.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How many countries around the world use proportional representation? |url=https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/how-many-countries-around-the-world-use-proportional-representation/ |access-date=2024-09-27 |website=www.electoral-reform.org.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>