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A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from
related terms ''Related'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from October 5, 2005, to March 20, 2006. It revolves around the lives of four close-knit sisters of Italians, Italian descent, raised in Brooklyn and living in Manhat ...
, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' a
Merriam-Websterdictionary.com

Oxford English Dictionarythefreedictionary.com
an
Cambridge English Dictionary
It is a
subset In mathematics, Set (mathematics), set ''A'' is a subset of a set ''B'' if all Element (mathematics), elements of ''A'' are also elements of ''B''; ''B'' is then a superset of ''A''. It is possible for ''A'' and ''B'' to be equal; if they are ...
of a
set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a group consists of 20 individuals, a majority would be 11 or more individuals, while having 10 or fewer individuals would not constitute a majority. "Majority" can be used to specify the voting requirement, as in a "majority vote", which means more than half of the votes cast. A majority can be compared to a plurality (sometimes called ''relative majority''), which is a subset larger than any other subset but not necessarily larger than all other subsets combined, and not necessarily greater than half of the set. 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. A plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset considered may consist of less than half the set's elements. This can occur when there are three or more possible choices. The (absolute) majority is sometimes referred to as a "simple" majority, compared to a
supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
(a majority requirement above 50%, like a 2/3 requirement), however use of this term is inconsistent as it sometimes refers to a mere plurality (as opposed to an absolute majority). In
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
the term "majority" is also alternatively used to refer to the winning margin, i.e., the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher. Other related terms containing the word "majority" have their own meanings, which may sometimes be inconsistent in usage.


Majority vote

In
parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or t ...
, the term "majority" simply means "more than half." As it relates to a vote, a majority vote is more than half of the votes cast.
Abstention Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...
s or blanks are excluded in calculating a majority vote. Also, the totals do not include votes cast by someone not entitled to vote or improper multiple votes by a single member. Depending on the
parliamentary authority A parliamentary authority is a book of rules for conducting business (parliamentary procedure) in deliberative assemblies. Several different books have been used by legislative assemblies and by organizations' deliberative bodies. Application to o ...
used, there may be a difference in the total that is used to calculate a majority vote due to "illegal votes". Illegal votes are votes which are cast for unidentifiable or ineligible candidates or choices. In this definition, "illegal" refers to the choices made on the ballot and does not refer to the persons who cast the votes (i.e. the persons are eligible to vote). In ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (abbreviated RONR), illegal votes are counted as votes cast, but are not credited to any candidate. In ''
The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure ''The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'' (formerly the ''Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'' by Alice Sturgis) is a book of rules of order. It is the second most popular parliamentary authority in the United States after ' ...
'' (abbreviated ''TSC''), illegal votes are not included in the total and a majority vote is defined as being more than half of all eligible votes cast. The issue of "illegal votes" does not exist when only two options are possible (e.g. "yes" or "no"), such as when a majority vote is required to adopt a proposal (
motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...
). In this context, a majority vote is more "yes" votes than "no" votes. A majority vote is not the same as a vote of a " majority of the members present" or a vote of a "
majority of the entire membership A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
".


Examples

For example, assume that votes are cast for three people for an office: Alice, Bob, and Carol.


Scenario 1

In Scenario 1, Alice received a majority vote. There were 20 votes cast and Alice received more than half of them.


Scenario 2

In Scenario 2, assume all three candidates are eligible. In this case, no one received a majority vote. This example also illustrates that half the votes cast is not a majority vote.


Scenario 3

In Scenario 3, assume that Alice and Bob are eligible candidates, but Carol is not. Using ''
Robert's Rules of Order ''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert. "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which ...
'', no one received a majority vote, which is the same as Scenario 2. In this case, the 4 votes for Carol are counted in the total, but are not credited to Carol (which precludes the possibility of an ineligible candidate being credited with receiving a majority vote). However, using '' The Standard Code'', Alice received a majority vote since only votes for eligible candidates are counted using this book. In this case, there are 16 votes for eligible candidates and Alice received more than half of those 16 votes.


Comparison to plurality

In all three scenarios, Alice received a plurality, or the most votes among the candidates. However, only in Scenario 1 did Alice receive a majority vote using ''Robert's Rules of Order''.


Related terms

Other related terms containing the word "majority" have their own meanings, which may sometimes be inconsistent in usage. A majority may sometimes be called a "simple majority" to contrast with other terms using "majority". A "simple majority" may also mean a "relative majority", or a plurality. These two definitions would conflict when a "simple majority" (i.e. plurality) is not a "majority" (also see the disambiguation page for simple majority). An "
absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
" may mean a majority of ''all'' electors, not just those who voted. This usage would be equivalent to a "majority of the entire membership". However, the definition for "absolute majority" is not consistent, as it could also mean the same as "majority" or "simple majority". The meanings for "absolute majority" and "simple majority" would have to be determined from the context in which these terms are used. A "
supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
", or a "qualified majority", is a specified higher threshold than one half. A common use of a supermajority is a "
two-thirds vote A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
", which is sometimes referred to as a "two-thirds majority". In
parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
s, an "overall majority" is the difference of legislators between the government and its opposition. In this context, the term "majority" could be also alternatively used to refer to the winning margin, i.e. the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher. A "
double majority A double majority is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria. The mechanism is usually used to require strong support for any measure considered to be of great importance. Typically in legislative b ...
" is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria.


Temporary majority

A temporary majority exists when the positions of the members present and voting in a meeting of a deliberative assembly on a subject are not representative of the membership as a whole. Parliamentary procedure contains some provisions designed to protect against a temporary majority violating the rights of absentees. For instance,
previous notice In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. Such motions, and the form they take are specified by the deliberate assembly and/or a pre-agreed volume detaili ...
is required to
rescind, repeal or annul A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...
or amend something previously adopted by a majority vote; if previous notice has not been given, a two-thirds vote is required. However, in this and many other cases, previous notice is not required if a majority of the entire membership votes in favor, because that indicates that it is clearly not a temporary majority. Another protection against a decision being made by a temporary majority is the motion to
reconsider and enter on the minutes In parliamentary procedure, reconsideration of a motion (or reconsideration of a question) may be done on a matter previously decided. The motion to "reconsider" is used for this purpose. This motion originated in the United States and is generally ...
, by which two members can suspend action on a measure until it is called up at a meeting on another day.


Application in other voting requirements

"Majority" could be specified with respect to the voting body.


"Majority of the entire membership" and "majority of the fixed membership"

A "
majority of the entire membership A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
" means more than half of all the members of a body. A "
majority of the fixed membership A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
" means more than half of all the seats of a body. A majority of the entire membership is different from a majority of the fixed membership when there are vacancies. For example, say a
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has 12 seats. If the board has the maximum number of members, or 12 members, a majority of the entire membership and a majority of the fixed membership would both be 7 members. However, if there are two vacancies (so that there are only 10 members on the board), then a majority of the entire membership would be 6 members (more than half of 10), but a majority of the fixed membership would still be 7 members.


"Majority of the members present"

A "majority of the members present" means more than half of the members at the meeting. 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. A vote of a "majority of the members present" is not the same as a "majority vote". When unqualified, a "majority vote" is taken to mean more than half of the votes cast. If 30 members were at a meeting, but only 20 votes were cast, a majority vote would be 11 votes.


Common errors

The expression "at least 50% +1" is sometimes used when "majority" is actually intended but this is incorrect when the total number referred to is odd. For example, say a board has 7 members. "Majority" means "at least 4" in this case (more than half of 7). But 50% + 1 is 4.5, and since a number of people can only be integer, "at least 50% + 1" would mean "at least 5".


See also

*
Majoritarianism Majoritarianism is a traditional political philosophy or agenda that asserts that a majority (sometimes categorized by religion, language, social class, or some other identifying factor) of the population is entitled to a certain degree of prim ...
*
Majority function In Boolean logic, the majority function (also called the median operator) is the Boolean function that evaluates to false when half or more arguments are false and true otherwise, i.e. the value of the function equals the value of the majority of t ...
*
Majority rule Majority rule is a principle that means the decision-making power belongs to the group that has the most members. In politics, majority rule requires the deciding vote to have majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary deci ...
*
Silent majority The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, "A ...
*
Voting system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...


References

{{Authority control Elections Voting theory yi:מערהייט