first-past-the-post

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first-past-the-post

n
(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (modifier) of or relating to a voting system in which a candidate may be elected by a simple majority rather than an absolute majority. Compare proportional representation
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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References in periodicals archive
Seok-ju Cho (2014) concludes that even with multiple parties, policy outcomes under proportional voting are likely to be very similar to those produced under the current plurality voting system. Democratic decision making means that even if there is a greater dispersion of political views in the legislature, the median legislator's views are likely to be close to the median voter's.
The new law will lead to a wide representation of the participating segments, comparing with the plurality voting system, he said.
Many shareholders are dissatisfied with the plurality voting system, and with good reason.
The man demands the government tackle the unemployment problem in Latvia; he also suggests a plurality voting system be introduced, as well as for the current Saeima and government to resign.
A committed and passionate advocate for some form of proportional representation electoral system and for increasing civic literacy, May is at her best in the chapter "Making the Vote Fair." Using New Zealand as her primary example, she points out that countries that have adopted some type of proportional representation system have higher voter turnouts compared to countries with a first-past-the-post or a single member plurality voting system. They also have higher levels of civic literacy.
Not surprisingly, they are eager to retain a traditional plurality voting system that has rewarded them large majority governments, with only 22 per cent of Ontarians actually voting them into office.
Given the Democratic Audit criteria, one might have expected our current plurality voting system to come in for some criticism.
Most American elections use a plurality voting system. This means that the candidate with the most votes wins, even if the candidate receives less than a majority (50 percent plus one) of votes cast.
"The Queen of Hearts said that Wonderland has a Plurality Voting System. Therefore--it is all very puzzling, I admit--the winner needs either a simple majority in a two-party race or less than a majority--a mere plurality--in a three-party race.
When considering whether there is a need to modernize our electoral system, it is worth asking why there seems to be little enthusiasm elsewhere to adopt the most fundamental element of our election process, the plurality voting system. We also should ask whether there are positive lessons to be learned from some of the many experiments in democracy that are being conducted in other countries.
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