When it comes to elections we generally think of winning candidate as representing a majority of those who have come out to vote. However, most general and primary elections in the United States require candidates to only receive a plurality, not an absolute majority in order to win. This goes largely unnoticed as winning candidates often receive an absolute majority anyway, or may come very close to an absolute majority. In districts safe for either republicans or democrats it is very common for the winning candidate to receive 60, 70, or 80 percent of the vote. However in swing districts races are often much closer, with third parties siphoning off enough votes to deny a candidate 50% plus 1 of the votes.
The plurality requirement has a number of clear effects. The first is that it allows candidates to be elected when a majority of voters voted for other candidates. In a three-way election a candidate receiving 34% of the vote would win if the other two candidates evenly split the remaining 66% of votes cast. The second effect is that it highly discouraged voting for third parties. Imagine a conservative party candidate, a Republican Party candidate, and a Democrat candidate competing for the same seat. You might agree with the Conservative party candidate the most; however, by voting for the third party candidate, you might split the conservative/republican vote. Even if the conservative and republican together receive more votes than the democrat, the democrat will still win if he receives more votes than any other single candidate. Read More »
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