Electoral systems - Majoritarian electoral systems - Majority-runoff two-round system

4 important questions on Electoral systems - Majoritarian electoral systems - Majority-runoff two-round system

A majority-runoff two-round system (TRS) is:

A system in which voters cast a single candidate-centered vote in a single-member district. Any candidate who obtains an absolute majority in the first round of elections is elected. If no one obtains an absolute majority, then the top two vote winners go on to compete in a runoff election in the second round.

Strengths of the majority-runoff TRS are:

  • It gives voters more choice than they enjoy in SMDP systems
  • Voters have less incentive to behave strategically than they do in SDMP systems because they have two opportunities to affect the election outcome.
  • It creates incentives for candidates who make it into the second round to look beyond their own electoral base and reach compromises with the leaders of parties who are already eliminated in an attempt to win over their supporters.

Weaknesses of the majority TRS are:

  • It imposes significant costs on the electoral administrations and on individuals
  • It produces a disproportional translation of votes into seats.
  • It hurts minority representation
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A similar electoral system but with lower costs is the supplementary vote (SV), which is:

A candidate-centered system used in single-member districts, where voters are required to rank at least one and at most two candidates in order of preference.

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