Civic · 6 pages · 12 min

How first-past-the-post spends wasted votes

Under first-past-the-post, votes for losers and surplus votes above the winner buy no extra seat.

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From the opening

First-past-the-post gives the seat to whoever has the most votes in the district, and it spends every other vote without buying another seat. Votes cast for a loser elect nobody, and votes for the winner beyond the winning margin sit unused because one more vote was not another seat. The opening covers losers' votes buy no seat, surplus votes buy no second seat, and narrow wins spend votes efficiently.

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Inside

Losers' votes buy no seat
Surplus votes buy no second seat
Narrow wins spend votes efficiently
Third candidates absorb the waste
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Wasted votes under plurality rule
Duverger's law

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How first-past-the-post spends wasted votes

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk