Editing Plurality voting (section)

=== Single-winner and single-member systems ===
{{Further|First-past-the-post voting}}
In single-winner plurality voting ([[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]]), each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the winner of the election is the candidate who represents a plurality of voters or, in other words, received more votes than any other candidate. In an election for a single seat, such as for [[President (government title)|president]] in a [[presidential system]], voters may vote for one candidate from a list of the candidates who are competing, and the winner is whichever candidate receives the highest number of votes. Compare first-past-the-post to a ''majority'' system, the [[two-round system]], where usually the top two candidates in the first ballot progress to the second round, also called the runoff. A runoff is by default not held, if a candidate already received an absolute majority in the first ballot (more than half of votes), and in the second ballot, where there are only two candidates, one of the candidates will (except for a tie) receive a majority. Under plurality rules, the candidates are not at any point in the election required to have majority support.

In an election for a legislative body with single-member seats, each voter in a geographically defined [[constituency|electoral district]] may vote for one candidate from a list of the candidates who are competing to represent that district. Under the plurality system, the winner of the election then becomes the representative of the whole electoral district and serves with representatives of other electoral districts. That makes plurality voting among the simplest of all electoral systems for voters and vote counting officials;<ref name=":7" /> however, the drawing of district boundary lines can be [[Gerrymandering|contentious]] in the plurality system (see [[gerrymandering]]). The system is also independent of parties; the party with the most votes overall may not win the most seats overall ([[electoral inversion]]). Note that issues arising from single-member districts are still in place with majority voting systems, like the two-round system and [[instant-runoff voting]] too.

The same principle used in single-winner plurality voting (electing the candidate with the most votes) is also used in [[approval voting]], however with very different effects, as voters can choose to support as many or few candidates as they choose, not just one. For this reason, approval voting is usually distinguished from plurality voting, while technically being a sub-type of it.