relative majority

British  

noun

1. the excess of votes or seats won by the winner of an election over the runner-up when no candidate or party has more than 50 per cent Compare absolute majority

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Example Sentences

Most consequentially, Hitler used his relative majority in the Reichstag to gridlock and paralyze the legislative processes, forcing Hindenburg to rule the country by emergency decrees, essentially transforming the Weimar Republic into a constitutional dictatorship.

From Salon • Aug. 5, 2024

“Was this part of the compromise that was needed, with a relative majority, to move forward?” he said.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2024

In recent legislative elections, Petro’s political movement obtained 20 seats in the Senate, a relative majority, but he would still have to make concessions in negotiations with other parties.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 18, 2022

In 2014, the first election with the new map, the district went for Fidesz in a relative majority.

From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2018

The clause, as I said above, laid down that the President should be elected directly, by a relative majority, the minimum of this majority being fixed at two million votes.

From The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Tocqueville, Alexis de