This method of counting, common in voting systems that were formed prior to the Industrial Revolution that enfranchised a small class of wealthy land-owners such as the UK and USA, drives what is called “strategic voting”.
Insisting on your most preferred Candidate A could mean your least preferred Candidate B wins, which drives a strategic choice of supporting Candidate C instead of A.
First-past-the-post is a system in which each voter will naturally converge on just two parties since each voter is incentivized to not vote for their “most preferred” candidate but to instead vote against their “least preferred” candidate to minimize the possibility of their votes being “wasted”.
That is to say, the candidate with the fewest downvotes wins.
It’s called “first past the post”.
This method of counting, common in voting systems that were formed prior to the Industrial Revolution that enfranchised a small class of wealthy land-owners such as the UK and USA, drives what is called “strategic voting”.
Insisting on your most preferred Candidate A could mean your least preferred Candidate B wins, which drives a strategic choice of supporting Candidate C instead of A.
First-past-the-post is a system in which each voter will naturally converge on just two parties since each voter is incentivized to not vote for their “most preferred” candidate but to instead vote against their “least preferred” candidate to minimize the possibility of their votes being “wasted”.
That is to say, the candidate with the fewest downvotes wins.