supermajority
a majority that must represent some percentage more than a simple majority.
a majority greater than a specified number, as 60%, of the total: required to pass certain types of legislation, override vetos, etc.
Origin of supermajority
1Words Nearby supermajority
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use supermajority in a sentence
There is an excitement in the air about San Diego having a majority of Democrats on the County Board of Supervisors and a supermajority on the City Council, as well as a Democratic mayor.
A Supermajority Is Futile if it Can’t Pass Meaningful Police Reform | Cornelius Bowser Sr. | December 10, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoIt’s rare to get a supermajority of 60 senators to agree on changes, and much of the Democrats’ ambitions—Medicare for All, police reform, climate change policy—would likely stall in the Senate.
What the Democrats could prioritize if they win the presidency and both chambers of Congress | Aric Jenkins | October 20, 2020 | FortuneDemocrats are trying to break a supermajority there just to have a bit more of a say.
In other words, the conservative legal movement is poised to remake large swaths of American law — and it’s well-positioned to do so in the years to come so long as Republicans control a supermajority of Supreme Court seats.
7 big cases the Supreme Court will hear in its new term, explained | Ian Millhiser | October 1, 2020 | VoxThe filibuster has turned the Senate from an institution in which bills passed when a majority of senators support them to an institution in which bills can only pass, with rare exceptions, with the backing of a 60-vote supermajority.
Caution: Wonkjuice is not intended as a substitute for a supermajority.
“Married people had a supermajority of political power at the time the [current tax] rules were enacted,” Kahng notes.
Singled Out: Are Unmarried People Discriminated Against? | Maura Kelly | February 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBut they fell three votes short of the supermajority required to send the package to Congress.
That vote, however, was insufficient because the bill moved through fast-track procedures that require a two-thirds supermajority.
But if the Republicans succeed in blocking the bill, they may end up electing a supermajority of Democrats in November.
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