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second ballotThe second ballot electoral system is a
majority system
which requires
elections to be run in two stages. At the first stage,
electors vote using a
first past the post system
.
Candidates
winning a
majority
of votes are declared
elected. In
electoral districts
where
no candidate wins a majority of votes, a second election
is held where the contest is restricted to the two candidates who
won the most votes at the first stage, or only to those candidates
with more than a specified share of the
vote. At the second election, the candidate with the
most votes wins. The second ballot system is a majority
system because it ensures that all or most successful candidates
have majority support.
The second ballot is used in France for the election of the
president (an election at large across the whole
country). If no presidential candidate wins a majority
of votes on the first round, only the top two candidates take part
in the runoff election held two weeks
later. For the election of the 577 members
of the French National Assembly (from 577 single member districts),
only those candidates with more than 12.5 percent of the first
round vote can participate in the runoff elections held one week
later in those electoral districts where no candidate won a
majority at the first election. At the 2002 elections
for the French National Assembly, only 58 members were elected with
majorities on the first round.
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