Absolute majority


Absolute majority in American parlance is a supermajoritarian voting requirement which is stricter than a simple majority. It means that more than half of all the members of a group, including those absent and those present but not voting, must vote in favour of a proposition in order for that proposition to be passed. In non-American usage "absolute majority" simply means more than half (as opposed to a plurality, which need not be, which is referred to as a "relative" or "simple majority"). The term in English-speaking countries is becoming increasingly displaced in usage by the simpler American term "majority". This article deals with "absolute majority" in the American sense of the word.