First-past-the-post voting

First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with the most first-preference marks (a plurality) is elected, regardless of whether they have over half of votes (a majority).

FPP has been used to elect the British House of Commons since the Middle Ages^[1] before spreading throughout the British Empire. Throughout the 20th century, many countries that previously used FPP have abandoned it in favor of other electoral systems, including the former British colonies of Australia and New Zealand. FPP is still officially used in the majority of US states for most elections. However, the combination of partisan primaries and a two-party system in these jurisdictions means that most American elections behave effectively like two-round systems, in which the first round chooses two main contenders (who go on to receive the overwhelming majority of votes).^[2]^[3]^[4]

^ "The Boundaries Review is a chance to bring back multi-member constituencies". 26 September 2016.
^ Santucci, Jack; Shugart, Matthew; Latner, Michael S. (16 October 2023). "Toward a Different Kind of Party Government". Protect Democracy. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024. Finally, we should not discount the role of primaries. When we look at the range of countries with first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections (given no primaries), none with an assembly larger than Jamaica's (63) has a strict two-party system. These countries include the United Kingdom and Canada (where multiparty competition is in fact nationwide). Whether the U.S. should be called 'FPTP' itself is dubious, and not only because some states (e.g. Georgia) hold runoffs or use the alternative vote (e.g. Maine). Rather, the U.S. has an unusual two-round system in which the first round winnows the field. This usually is at the intraparty level, although sometimes it is without regard to party (e.g. in Alaska and California).
^ Gallagher, Michael; Mitchell, Paul (15 September 2005). "The American Electoral System". The Politics of Electoral Systems. OUP Oxford. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-19-153151-4. American elections become a two-round run-off system with a delay of several months between the rounds.
^ Bowler, Shaun; Grofman, Bernard; Blais, André (2009), "The United States: A Case of Duvergerian Equilibrium", Duverger's Law of Plurality Voting: The Logic of Party Competition in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 135–146, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-09720-6_9, ISBN 978-0-387-09720-6, retrieved 31 August 2024, In effect, the primary system means that the USA has a two-round runoff system of elections.

[1] "The Boundaries Review is a chance to bring back multi-member constituencies". 26 September 2016.

[:03222-2] Santucci, Jack; Shugart, Matthew; Latner, Michael S. (16 October 2023). "Toward a Different Kind of Party Government". Protect Democracy. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024. Finally, we should not discount the role of primaries. When we look at the range of countries with first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections (given no primaries), none with an assembly larger than Jamaica's (63) has a strict two-party system. These countries include the United Kingdom and Canada (where multiparty competition is in fact nationwide). Whether the U.S. should be called 'FPTP' itself is dubious, and not only because some states (e.g. Georgia) hold runoffs or use the alternative vote (e.g. Maine). Rather, the U.S. has an unusual two-round system in which the first round winnows the field. This usually is at the intraparty level, although sometimes it is without regard to party (e.g. in Alaska and California).

[3] Gallagher, Michael; Mitchell, Paul (15 September 2005). "The American Electoral System". The Politics of Electoral Systems. OUP Oxford. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-19-153151-4. American elections become a two-round run-off system with a delay of several months between the rounds.

[4] Bowler, Shaun; Grofman, Bernard; Blais, André (2009), "The United States: A Case of Duvergerian Equilibrium", Duverger's Law of Plurality Voting: The Logic of Party Competition in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 135–146, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-09720-6_9, ISBN 978-0-387-09720-6, retrieved 31 August 2024, In effect, the primary system means that the USA has a two-round runoff system of elections.

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First-past-the-post voting

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