First Past the Post electoral system

A first-past-the-post (FPTP; sometimes FPP) electoral system is one in which voters indicate on a ballot the candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. This is sometimes described as winner takes all. First-past-the-post voting is a plurality voting method. FPTP is a common, but not universal, feature of electoral systems with single-member electoral divisions, and is practised in close to one third of countries. Notable examples include the w:United States, the w:United Kingdom, as well as some of the latter's former colonies and w:protectorates, such as w:Canada or w:India.

The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts, variously called first-past-the-post (FPTP or FPP), winner-take-all, plurality voting, or relative majority. In political science, it is known as Single-Member Plurality or SMP. This system is in use at all levels of politics. It is a key component of the original implementation the Westminster System in Briton and subsequently the British colonies. A thorough list is given below.

Wales, Scotland, both North and South Ireland, and New Zealand have fairly recently implemented different election systems. The possible solution for UK was handled by the Jenkins Committee in the late 1980s but no final solution has been reached yet.

In 2005, the Canadian province of British Columbia held a referendum on changing their FPTP to STV; it was narrowly defeated.

Recent examples of nations which have not adopted the FPTP system includes South Africa, almost all of the former east bloc nations, Russia and Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

The term "first past the post" refers to a now seldom-used analogy with horse racing, where the winner is the first to pass a particular point (in this case a plurality of votes), upon which all other runners automatically and completely lose ("winner take all").

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