---
title: "What is plurality voting? One vote, most votes wins"
url: "https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/plurality-voting/"
description: "In plurality voting each voter picks one option and the option with the most votes wins, even without a majority. When it works and how to run it in Slack."
---

# What is plurality voting?

**Plurality voting**: Plurality voting gives each voter one vote, and the option with the most votes wins, even if it has less than half of them. In single-winner elections it is also called first-past-the-post.

Also known as: first-past-the-post, relative majority.

It's the vote most people picture: one person, one pick, highest count wins. It's simple and
fast, and with three or more options it can pick a winner most of the group didn't want.

## Example polls

Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.

```text
/poll "Team lunch on Friday: where?" "Thai" "Pizza" "Burritos" limit 1 close after 2 hours
```

A quick plurality vote where any winner is fine. *Premium: vote limits, closing automatically.*

```text
/poll "Ship the redesign this week?" "Yes" "No" limit 1 anonymous close after 1 day
```

With two options, plurality and majority give the same answer. *Premium: vote limits, closing automatically.*

## Plurality is not majority

A **majority** means more than half the votes. A **plurality** just means more than any
other option. With two options they're the same thing. With three, the winner can have 34%.

Example: 10 people choose a team name. "Atlas" gets 4 votes, "Relay" 3 and "Beacon" 3. Atlas
wins under plurality. If the six Relay and Beacon voters all prefer either of those to Atlas,
most of the team got their last choice. That's vote splitting.

## When plurality is fine

- Two options. Plurality and majority agree.
- Low-stakes, quick calls where any winner is acceptable: lunch, a playlist, a background
  for the team photo.
- When one option is clearly ahead.

When three or more options are close and the decision matters, use
[ranked-choice voting](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/ranked-choice-voting/), which keeps eliminating the
last-placed option until one has a majority.

## Running a plurality vote in Slack

A Simple Poll choice poll lets people pick several options by default, which is
[approval voting](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/approval-voting/). For one vote per person, add `limit 1`
(Premium). On the Free plan you can ask people to pick one in the question, but the poll
won't enforce it. Add `close after` (Premium) so the count is final at a known time.

## FAQ

### What happens on a tie?

Plurality has no built-in tie-break. Agree one before you post (a run-off between the tied
options, or the owner decides) and say so in the question.

### Is plurality the same as first-past-the-post?

Yes, for a single winner. First-past-the-post is the common name in elections.

## Related

- [What is a single-choice poll?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/single-choice-poll/): A single-choice poll lets each voter pick exactly one option. The result shows how a group splits when everyone has to commit to a single answer.
- [What is approval voting?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/approval-voting/): Approval voting lets each voter pick every option they find acceptable, as many as they like. The option with the most approvals wins.
- [What is ranked-choice voting?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/ranked-choice-voting/): Ranked-choice voting asks each voter to put the options in order of preference instead of picking just one. The term usually means instant-runoff counting: the last-placed option is eliminated round by round until one option has a majority.
- [How to limit votes in a Slack poll](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-limit-votes-in-a-slack-poll/): By default, a Simple Poll lets each person pick as many options as they like. That's right for "which days can you make?" and wrong for "which date should we pick?". A vote limit caps how many options each person can choose: limit 1 for single choice, limit 2 or more for "pick your top two". Vote limits are a Premium feature.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Plurality voting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_voting)
- [How do I limit respondents to one vote per poll?](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/43-how-do-i-limit-the-number-of-votes-each-user-can-cast-in-a-poll)

---

Simple Poll is the #1 polls and surveys app for Slack. Add it to Slack: https://simplepoll.rocks/. Pricing: https://simplepoll.rocks/pricing/.