Editing Plurality voting (section)

== Voting system attributes and comparison to non-plurality systems ==

=== Attributes and criteria ===
'''Majority criterion:''' Will a candidate always win who is ranked as the unique favorite by a majority of voters?

; <dfn>[[Independence of clones criterion|Independence of clone alternatives]] (cloneproof)</dfn>
: Does the outcome never change if non-winning candidates similar to an existing candidate are added? There are three different phenomena which could cause a method to fail this criterion:
:; [[Vote-splitting|Spoilers]]
:: Candidates which decrease the chance of any of the similar or clone candidates winning, also known as a [[spoiler effect]].
:; Teams
:: Sets of similar candidates whose mere presence helps the chances of any of them winning.
:; Crowds
:: Additional candidates who affect the outcome of an election without either helping or harming the chances of their factional group, but instead affecting another group.

'''No favorite betrayal:''' Can voters be sure that they do not need to rank any other candidate above their favorite in order to obtain a result they prefer?
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Number of winners
!System
!Candidate/list
!Ballot type (number of votes)
!Representation
![[Majority favorite criterion|Majority criterion]]
![[Independence of clones criterion|Independence of clones]]
!No favorite betrayal
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''Single-winner'''
|[[First-past-the-post voting|'''First-past-the-post''']]
|Candidate
|'''mark 1'''
|[[Majoritarian representation|'''Majoritarian''']]
|'''Yes'''
|'''No (spoilers)'''
|'''No'''
|-
|[[Approval voting]]
|Candidate
|mark any number
|[[Majoritarian representation|Majoritarian]]
|Yes
|Yes
|No
|-
| rowspan="5" |'''Multi-winner'''
|'''[[Plurality block voting]]'''
|Candidate
|'''mark at most as many as seats'''
|[[Majoritarian representation|'''Majoritarian''']]
|'''Yes'''
|'''No (spoilers, crowds)'''
|'''No'''
|-
|'''[[Limited voting]]'''
|Candidate
|'''mark k'''
|[[Semi-proportional representation|'''Semi-proportional''']]
|'''Yes'''
|'''No (spoilers, crowds)'''
|'''No'''
|-
|'''[[Single non-transferable vote]]'''
|Candidate
|'''mark 1'''
|[[Semi-proportional representation|'''Semi-proportional''']]
|'''Yes'''
|'''No (spoilers, crowds)'''
|'''No'''
|-
|[[General ticket|'''Party block voting/General ticket (plurality)''']]
|List
|'''mark 1'''
|[[Majoritarian representation|'''Majoritarian''']]
|'''Yes'''
|'''No (spoilers)'''
|'''No'''
|-
|[[Cumulative voting]]
|Candidate
|distribute fixed number of votes
|[[Semi-proportional representation|Semi-proportional]]
|
|'''No (spoilers, crowds)'''
|
|}

=== Comparison to non-plurality systems ===
Plurality voting is often contrasted with (absolute) majority voting<ref>{{Cite web |title=Election - Plurality, Majority, Systems {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/election-political-science/Plurality-and-majority-systems |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> where variant of runoff voting (multi-round voting) are also classified. However, in formal social choice theory, the term majority voting has a different definition, and runoff voting methods could also be classified under plurality{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}. 
{| class="wikitable"
!Number of winners
!Plurality-based systems
!Non-plurality systems
!Explanation (what makes non-plurality system fundamentally different)
|-
| rowspan="6" |'''Single-winner'''
| rowspan="6" |[[First-past-the-post voting|'''First-past-the-post''']]
|[[Anti-plurality voting|Anti-plurality]]
|Voters mark one candidate they do not want elected, the candidate with least votes wins
|-
|[[Runoff voting (disambiguation)|Multi-round voting]]
|Usually majority rule in first round (candidate wins only if they have more than half of the votes),
typically plurality voting (technically: SNTV) determines which candidates compete in second round,
majority rule for second round (with only two candidates).
|-
|[[Ranked voting|Ranked systems]]
|Voters may rank candidates.
Some ranked systems simulate multi-round voting.
Some ranked systems use plurality rule with weighted (positional) inputs ([[Borda count]]), but are not considered plurality voting.
|-
|[[Score voting]]
|Voters score candidates on a scale.
|-
|[[Random ballot]]
|Winner gets sorted randomly from ballots
|-
|[[Sortition]]
|Does not use ballots
|-
| rowspan="9" |'''Multi-winner'''
| rowspan="6" |Candidate-based plurality voting:
'''[[Plurality block voting]]''', '''[[limited voting]]''', '''[[single non-transferable vote]]'''
|[[Single transferable vote|Single-transferable vote]]
|Voters may rank candidates. Quota determines who gets elected (and which votes get transferred), not plurality rule (except last seats).
|-
|[[Score voting]]
|Voters may score candidates on a scale.
[[Multiwinner approval voting|Approval block voting]], while using the plurality rule is also technically a score voting system.
|-
|[[Proportional approval voting]]
|
|-
|Multiple random ballots
|Winners get sorted randomly from ballots
|-
|[[Sortition]]
|Does not use ballots
|-
| rowspan="2" |Panachage
| rowspan="2" |While voters vote only for candidates (and may vote across party lines), the seat allocation is primarily based on list-PR, in an open list-system.
|-
| rowspan="3" |List-based plurality voting:
[[General ticket|'''Party block voting/General ticket (plurality)''']]
|-
|[[Open list]] proportional representation
([[Party-list proportional representation|list-PR]])
|While voters may vote only for candidates (or lists) within lists, the seat allocation is primarily based on [[Party-list proportional representation|list-PR]].
The candidate votes change ranking within list (usually with plurality rule).
|-
|[[Closed list]] proportional representation
([[Party-list proportional representation|list-PR]])
|Voters usually can vote for just one party, but seat allocation is proportional, not by plurality rule.
|}