🌈 A large variety 🗳️ Most votes 🔤 More than one

plurality

9 7.9

The largest number of votes when no candidate gets more than half

noun
/plʊˈrælɪti/

Specialized

: pluralidad

This is known as plurality voting, or first past the Post.
win a plurality
plurality of votes
plurality opinion

Examples

In the 1994 mid-term election, a plurality of voters, mobilized by a shrewd Republican campaign, agreed.

Academic text (1997)
And I do believe there are millions of voters who think that way, maybe a plurality of voters who think that way.
Each state also elects, by plurality vote, three federal senators, who serve eight-year terms.

Academic text (1998)
FORD-Kenya had the highest winning plurality, with 58,613 votes in Kisumu.

Academic text (1998)
In the recent election, the candidate received a plurality of votes, winning despite not achieving an outright majority.
To win the election, a candidate only needs a plurality of votes, which can be less than half of the total votes cast.
The proposal received a plurality in the assembly, indicating that more members supported it compared to any other option.

Synonyms

relative majority

vsplurality

1 7.5

The largest number of votes for a person running for office that is less than half

is the same concept but expressed with a different formal term

How Large

majority

732 2.1

plurality

Specialized

9 7.9

Surface Forms

plurality singular

pluralities plural

Morphology

plurality = plural (semi-transparent) = plural + ity

The electoral sense is a specialized noun sense derived from 'plural' ('more'), but its technical meaning ('most votes but less than half') is lexicalized and not directly predictable by all learners.

Etymology

Plurality keeps the basic idea of 'more' from the word plural, which means 'more than one' or 'more'. So in elections, a plurality means getting 'more' votes than any other candidate, even if this is not a full majority.