Plurality
Glossary·Verified 2026-07-10
Definition
Plurality is a voting rule where whoever gets the most votes wins, even without a majority (more than 50%). It's the standard method for most U.S. elections and is often called "first past the post."1
Why it matters
In races with three or more candidates, plurality can hand office to someone most voters didn't choose, splitting the opposition vote and rewarding whichever bloc stays most unified. This dynamic is a core argument reform advocates use for ranked-choice voting or runoffs.
Seen in the wild
Paul LePage won Maine's 2010 governor's race with just 38.1% of the vote in a four-candidate field, edging independent Eliot Cutler's 36.7%, a result that later helped drive Maine's 2016 voter-approved switch to ranked-choice voting.2