Majority

It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a group consists of 31 individuals, a majority would be 16 or more individuals, while having 15 or fewer individuals would not constitute a majority.

A majority is different from, but often confused with, a plurality (or relative majority in British English), which is a subset larger than any other subset but not necessarily more than half the set. See the "Related terms" section below for details.

Majority vote

In parliamentary procedure, a majority always means precisely "more than half". Other common definitions (e.g. the frequent 50%+1) may be misleading (see "Common errors" below).

Depending on the parliamentary authority used, there may be a difference in the total that is used to calculate a majority vote due to spoiled votes. Comparing the two most popular authorities in the United States: In Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (abbreviated RONR), spoiled votes are counted as votes cast, but are not credited to any candidate. In The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (abbreviated TSC), spoiled votes are not included in the total and a majority vote is defined as being more than half of all eligible votes cast.

As it relates to a vote, a majority vote most often means a simple majority vote, which means more "yes" votes than "no" votes. Abstentions or blanks are excluded in calculating a simple majority vote. Also, the totals do not include votes cast by someone not entitled to vote or improper multiple votes by a single member.

Related terms

Other related terms containing the word "majority" have their own meanings, which may sometimes be inconsistent in usage.

In British English, the term "majority" is used to mean the difference in votes between the first-place candidate in an election and the second-place candidate. The word "majority", and the phrases "size of a majority", "overall majority", or "working majority", are also used to mean the difference between the number of votes gained by the winning party or candidate and the total votes gained by all other parties or candidates. In American English, "majority" does not have this meaning; the phrase margin of victory, i.e. the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher, is typically used.

A "double majority" is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria. e.g. in the European Union, the Council uses a double majority rule, requiring 55% of member states, representing at least 65% of the total EU population in favor. In some cases, the required percentage of member states in favor is increased to 72%.

A "supermajority" is a specified threshold greater than one half. A common use of a supermajority is a "two-thirds vote", which is sometimes referred to as a "two-thirds majority".

A "plurality" or "relative majority" is achieved when a candidate or other option polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all votes cast. For example, if there is a group with 20 members which is divided into subgroups with 9, 6, and 5 members, then the 9-member group would be the plurality, but would not be a majority (as they have less than eleven members).

Voting basis

The voting basis refers to the set of members considered when calculating whether a proposal has a majority, i.e. the denominator used in calculating the percent support for a vote. Common voting bases include:

• Members present and voting: Members who cast a vote. Often called a simple majority, and excludes abstentions.
  • If 30 members were at a meeting, but only 20 votes were cast, a majority of members present and voting would be 11 votes.

• Members present: All members present at a meeting, including those who do not vote or abstain. Often called an absolute majority.
  • If 30 members were at a meeting, a majority of the members present would be 16. In any situation which specifies such a requirement for a vote, an abstention would have the same effect as a "no" vote.
• Entire membership: all the members of a body, including those absent and those present but not voting. In practical terms, it means an absence or an abstention from voting is equivalent to a "no" vote. It may be contrasted with a majority vote which only requires more than half of those actually voting to approve a proposition for it to be enacted
  • By way of illustration, in February 2007 the Italian Government fell after it lost a vote in the Italian Senate by 158 votes to 136 (with 24 abstentions). The government needed an absolute majority in the 318-member house but fell two votes short of the required 160 when two of its own supporters abstained.
  • Within German politics, the Kanzlermehrheit (Chancellor majority) to elect the Chancellery of Germany is specified as requiring a majority of elected members of the Bundestag, rather than a majority of those present.
• Fixed membership: the official, theoretical size of the full deliberative assembly. It is used only when a specific number of seats or memberships is established in the rules governing the organization. A majority of the fixed membership would be different from a majority of the entire membership if there are vacancies.
  • For example, say a board has 13 seats. If the board has the maximum number of members, or 13 members, a majority of the entire membership and a majority of the fixed membership would be seven members. However, if there are two vacancies (so that there are only eleven members on the board), then a majority of the entire membership would be six members (more than half of eleven), but a majority of the fixed membership would still be seven members.