07 September 2009
a method of voting under which the voter expresses a first choice, second choice, and sometimes third and further choices among the candidates nominated. It is frequently used as a substitute for primary elections. It is one feature of the Hare system of proportional representation and is also used in several different forms for majority elections of individual officials. The major consequence of preferential voting is that minority constituencies exercise a larger role in elections than in a system of simple majority rule. In the United States preferential voting systems make up only a minuscule fraction of elections.
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