Block voting

rdf:langString Block voting

rdf:langString Block voting or bloc voting refers to electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected at once, and a group (voting bloc) of voters can force the system to elect only their preferred candidates. Block voting may be used at large (in a single district with multiple winners) or in several multi-member districts. Most types of block voting fall under the multiple non-transferable vote type of systems; these terms are sometimes used synonymously. Block voting is also used synonymously with the term majoritarian representation (winner-takes-all) in the context of multi-winner electoral systems. The two main types of block voting are plurality block voting, where only a plurality is needed to elect candidates; and majority block voting, where candidates need to reach the support of a majority (more than half) of the electorate to get elected. Plurality block voting is an election with n winners, each voter may choose up to n candidates; the n candidates with most votes win. Majority block voting may use multiple rounds of voting or it may be preferential block voting (multiple transferable vote), using ranked ballots. Other types include block approval voting: in an election with n winners, each voter may vote for any number of candidates and the candidates with the most votes win; partial block voting (also known as limited voting): in an election with n winners, each voter may choose up to m (m) candidates; the n candidates with the most votes win; and party block voting (also known as the general ticket), in an election where each voter may vote for a party and that party wins all seats. Block voting is often contrasted with proportional representation, which methods aim to select winners in a way that every voter's vote counts with the same effective weight, while under block voting the usual result is that where the candidates divide into definitive parties the most popular party in the district sees its full slate of candidates elected, resulting in a landslide.