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Preferred term

first past the post  

Definition

  • First past the post is an electoral formula whereby the candidate who obtains a plurality of votes in a single-member district wins the corresponding seat. One of the simplest, oldest, and most widely adopted election mechanisms—used by countries including the United States and the United Kingdom—first past the post is also highly disproportional as it grants, by definition, 100 percent of district representation to the party that wins a simple majority of the vote while leaving the remaining competitors unrepresented regardless of their electoral strength. [Source: The Encyclopedia of Political Science; First Past the Post]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/first_past_the_post

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