Editing Majority (section)

== Majority vote ==
In [[parliamentary procedure]], a majority always means precisely "more than half". Other common definitions (e.g. the frequent 50%+1) may be misleading [[#Common errors|(see "Common errors" below)]].<ref name="rr-faqs">{{cite web |url = https://robertsrules.com/frequently-asked-questions/ |title = FAQs |access-date = 2021-02-21 |website = Official Robert's Rules of Order Website |publisher = The Robert's Rules Association}}</ref>{{rp|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 [[Spoilt vote|spoiled votes]].<ref name="rronr2011-416">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Robert|2011|p = 416}}</ref> Comparing the two most popular authorities in the United States: In [[Robert's Rules of Order|''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'']] (abbreviated RONR), spoiled votes are counted as votes cast, but are not credited to any candidate.<ref name="rronr2011-416" /> 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.<ref>''The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'', 4th edition, 2001, pp. 134, 158-9</ref>

As it relates to a vote, a majority vote most often means a ''simple'' majority vote, which means more "yes" votes than "no" votes.<ref name="rronr2011-400">{{Cite book |last=Robert |first=Henry M. |title=[[Robert's Rules of Order]] Newly Revised |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-306-82020-5 |edition=11th |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=400 |quote=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. |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Robert|2011|p=405}}</ref> [[Abstention]]s or blanks are excluded in calculating a simple majority vote.<ref name="rr-faqs" />{{rp|6}} Also, the totals do not include votes cast by someone not entitled to vote or improper multiple votes by a single member.<ref name="rronr2011-416" />

=== Related terms ===
Other related terms containing the word "majority" have their own meanings, which may sometimes be inconsistent in usage.<ref name="schermers">{{Cite book |last1=Schermers |first1=Henry G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMXToQLp21UC&pg=PA562 |title=International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity |last2=Blokker |first2=Niels M. |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=978-90-04-18798-6 |edition=Fifth Revised |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=561–563 |author-link1=Henry G. Schermers |author-link2=Niels Blokker}}</ref>

In [[British English]], the term "majority" is used to mean the difference in votes between the first-place candidate in an election and the second-place candidate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/london-mayoral-election-2024-results-in-full-b2539669.html |title=London Mayoral Election 2024: Results in full|work=The Independent|access-date=5 May 2024|quote="Labour's Sadiq Khan secured just over 1,088,000 (43.8%) votes to be re-elected London Mayor, a majority of some 275,000 over Conservative rival Susan Hall, who secured just under 813,000 (32.7%) votes."}}</ref> The word "majority", and the phrases "size of a majority", "overall majority", or "working majority", are also used to mean the difference between the number of votes gained by the winning party or candidate and the total votes gained by all other parties or candidates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/majority|work=Merriam-Webster|title=Majority|quote="1b: the excess of a majority over the remainder of the total: margin"|access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="longman-overall-majority">{{cite web |title=Overall Majority |url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/overall-majority |access-date=2009-04-26 |work=Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English |publisher=Longmans}}</ref> In American English, "majority" does not have this meaning; the phrase [[wikt:margin_of_victory|margin of victory]], i.e. the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher, is typically used.<ref name="majority-dictionaries">Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' at [[mwod:majority|Merriam-Webster]], [https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/majority dictionary.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221102100/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/majority|date=2015-12-21}}, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130524150957/http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/majority Oxford English Dictionary], [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/majority thefreedictionary.com], and [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/majority Cambridge English Dictionary].</ref>

A "[[double majority]]" is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria.<ref name="schermers" /> 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%.<ref>{{cite web |date=2024-01-11 |title=Qualified majority |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/voting-system/qualified-majority/ |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=European Council, Council of the European Union |publisher=European Council}}</ref>

A "[[supermajority]]" is a specified threshold greater than one half.<ref name="schermers" /> A common use of a supermajority is a "[[two-thirds vote]]", which is sometimes referred to as a "two-thirds majority".

A "[[Plurality (voting)|plurality]]" or "relative majority" is achieved when a candidate or other option polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast. 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 eleven members).

=== Voting basis ===
The '''voting basis''' refers to the set of members considered when calculating whether a proposal has a majority,{{sfn|Robert|2011|p=402}} i.e. the [[denominator]] used in calculating the percent support for a vote. Common voting bases include:

* '''Members present and voting''':  Members who cast a vote. Often called a '''simple majority''', and excludes [[abstention]]s.<ref name=":0">"With three-cornered contests as common as they now are, we may have occasion to find a convenient single word for what we used to call an ''absolute majority''... In America the word ''majority'' itself has that meaning while a poll greater than that of any other candidate, but less than half the votes cast is called a ''plurality.'' It might be useful to borrow this distinction..." (Fowler, H.W. 1965 ''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'')</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=In Parliament, which votes require a simple majority and which votes require an absolute majority? - Parliamentary Education Office |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=peo.gov.au |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dougherty |first1=Keith L. |last2=Edward |first2=Julian |date=January 2010 |title=The Properties of Simple Vs. Absolute Majority Rule: Cases Where Absences and Abstentions Are Important |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0951629809347557 |journal=Journal of Theoretical Politics |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=85–122 |doi=10.1177/0951629809347557 |issn=0951-6298}}</ref> 
** If 30 members were at a meeting, but only 20 votes were cast, a majority of members present and voting would be 11 votes.<ref name="rronr2011-403" />
{{anchor|Absolute majority}}
* '''Members present''': All members present at a meeting, including those who do not vote or [[Abstention|abstain]].<ref name="rronr2011-403">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Robert|2011|p=403}}</ref> Often called an '''absolute majority'''.<ref name="schermers" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>See dictionary definitions of "simple majority", "absolute majority", and "qualified majority" at [http://en.euabc.com/word/833 EUabc.com].</ref> 
** If 30 members were at a meeting, a majority of the members present would be 16. In any situation which specifies such a requirement for a vote, an abstention would have the same effect as a "no" vote.<ref name="rr-faqs" />{{rp|6}}
* '''Entire membership''': all the members of a body, including those absent and those present but not voting.<ref name=":02">{{harvp|Robert|2011|p=403}}</ref> In practical terms, it means an absence or an abstention from voting is equivalent to a "no" vote.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions about RONR (Question 6) |url=http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224205021/http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#6 |archive-date=December 24, 2018 |access-date=December 30, 2015 |website=The Official Robert's Rules of Order Web Site |publisher=The Robert's Rules Association}}</ref> It may be contrasted with a majority vote which only requires more than half of those actually voting to approve a proposition for it to be enacted
** By way of illustration, in February 2007 the Italian Government fell after it lost a vote in the [[Italian Senate]] by 158 votes to 136 (with 24 abstentions). The government needed an absolute majority in the 318-member house but fell two votes short of the required 160 when two of its own supporters abstained.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hooper |first=John |date=February 22, 2007 |title=Prodi stands down after surprise defeat in senate over US alliance |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/22/italy.topstories3 |access-date=June 22, 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
** {{anchor|Kanzlermehrheit}} Within [[German politics]], the '''Kanzlermehrheit''' (Chancellor majority) to elect the [[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellery of Germany]] is specified as requiring a majority of elected members of the [[Bundestag]], rather than a majority of those present.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bildung |first=Bundeszentrale für politische |title=Kanzlermehrheit |url=https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/lexika/lexikon-in-einfacher-sprache/249949/kanzlermehrheit/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=bpb.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Deutscher Bundestag - Kanzlermehrheit |url=https://www.bundestag.de/services/glossar/glossar/K/kanzlermehrheit-869710 |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=Deutscher Bundestag |language=de}}</ref> 
* '''Fixed membership''': the official, theoretical size of the full deliberative assembly.<ref name=":02" /> It is used only when a specific number of seats or memberships is established in the rules governing the organization. A majority of the fixed membership would be different from a majority of the entire membership if there are vacancies.<ref name=":02" />
** For example, say a [[Board of directors|board]] has 13 seats. If the board has the maximum number of members, or 13 members, a majority of the entire membership and a majority of the fixed membership would be seven members. However, if there are two vacancies (so that there are only eleven members on the board), then a majority of the entire membership would be six members (more than half of eleven), but a majority of the fixed membership would still be seven members.<ref name=":02" />