Plurality



A plurality (or "relative majority") is the largest share of something. Depending on the definition used, a majority may or may not also be a plurality, though note that a plurality isn't always a majority. Some elections or types of votes require merely a plurality, while others require a runoff to produce a majority.

The term plurality is also often used to categorize voting methods that operate by looking mainly at voters' 1st choices. Choose-one FPTP voting and STV fall into this category, as do the plurality-runoff voting methods.

Example
For example, if there are three candidates A, B, and C, with A having 40% of the votes, B 30%, and C 30%, then A has a plurality (more votes than all others), but not a majority (which would be at least 50% + 1).