In North American English, the term plurality, used in the context of voting, refers to the largest number of votes to be received by any candidate or referendum.[1] It is contrasted with a majority, which is more than half of the votes.[1] For example, in a multiple contested race, plurality is the candidate with the most votes, while in a majority election a candidate can only win if they also receive over half of the votes. When no candidate receives a majority in the first round of voting, a two-round system or preferential voting system can be used to choose a winner. When there are only two choices, the plurality choice is also the majority choice.
Systems allowing plurality election are more vulnerable to corruption using the spoiler effect than systems which require a majority.[2]
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In UK constituency elections, which typically feature three or more candidates representing major parties, the word majority is used for this concept, with the term overall or absolute majority being used to refer to the narrower North American meaning of majority.[3]
Consider, for example, an election of three candidates where 100 votes are cast, with Alice winning 40 votes, and Bob and Carol winning 31 and 29 votes respectively. A Briton might say "Alice won with a majority of 9", whereas a Canadian wishing to express the same sentiment would say "Alice won with a plurality." The Canadian would only describe Alice as winning with a majority if Alice won with at least 51 votes.
The term relative majority is a synonym for plurality, that can also be used if necessary to distinguish that kind of 'majority' from an overall majority.
The term is also used in demographics, to refer to populations, as defined by particular parameters such as ethnicity, religion, age, etc., which represent the highest percentage of the whole as compared to other similarly defined groups, but do not constitute a majority of the population.
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