# First-preference vote

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{{Short description|Individual voter's first choice}}{{For|the electoral method|First-preference plurality}}{{Electoral systems|expanded=Social and collective choice}}thumb|Example ranked voting ballot. John Citizen is the first preference on this ballot|left

A '''first-preference''' is a voter's most-preferred candidate.<ref name="SBS">{{cite web |title=Explainer: What is preferential voting? |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/08/14/explainer-what-preferential-voting |access-date=10 August 2024 |publisher=[Special Broadcasting Service](/source/Special_Broadcasting_Service) |archive-date=25 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125170316/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/08/14/explainer-what-preferential-voting |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="environ">{{cite web |date=November 2014 |title=How the Dáil is Elected |url=http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/Voting/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,1869,en.pdf#page=10 |access-date=24 May 2015 |publisher=[Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government](/source/Department_of_the_Environment%2C_Community_and_Local_Government), (Ireland) |page=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119133629/http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/Voting/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,1869,en.pdf#page=10 |archive-date=19 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Cameron">{{cite web |date=18 February 2011 |title="Full transcript – David Cameron – The case against AV – London – 18 February 2011" |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2011/02/vote-system-politics-australia |access-date=24 May 2015 |publisher=[New Statesman](/source/New_Statesman) |archive-date=24 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524162643/http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2011/02/vote-system-politics-australia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RTEResults2015">{{cite web |date=23 May 2015 |title=By-Election: Carlow-Kilkenny |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/results/2015/by/cw-kk/ |access-date=24 May 2015 |publisher=[RTÉ](/source/RT%C3%89) |archive-date=25 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525205015/http://www.rte.ie/news/results/2015/by/cw-kk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In certain ranked systems such as [first preference plurality](/source/first_preference_plurality), [ranked-choice voting (RCV)](/source/Instant-runoff_voting), and the [single transferable vote](/source/single_transferable_vote), first preferences for a candidate are considered most important and prioritized heavily. This incentivizes pandering to the [political base or "core support"](/source/political_base) as a result of the [center squeeze effect](/source/center_squeeze_effect). Methods like [Condorcet voting](/source/Condorcet_voting), [rated voting](/source/rated_voting), and the [Borda count](/source/Borda_count) do not exhibit such effects. Methods like [anti-plurality voting](/source/anti-plurality_voting) and [Coombs' method](/source/Coombs'_method) have the opposite effect, being dominated by a voter's bottom rankings and so tending to elect the "least offensive" candidates.

First-preference votes are used by [psephologists](/source/psephologists) and the [print](/source/Print_media) and [broadcast](/source/broadcast) media to broadly describe the ''state of the parties'' at elections and the ''[swing](/source/Swingometer)'' between elections.<ref name="RTEResults2015" /><ref name="UWA">{{cite web |title=First Preference Vote |url=http://elections.uwa.edu.au/glossaryc.lasso?CondensedGlossary=firstpreferencevote |access-date=24 May 2015 |publisher=[University of Western Australia](/source/University_of_Western_Australia) |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227005342/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/glossaryc.lasso?CondensedGlossary=firstpreferencevote |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NSW2012">{{cite web |date=14 September 2012 |title=Cooma-Monaro Shire Council: Summary of First Preference Votes for each Candidate |url=http://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/cooma-monaro-shire-council/councillor |access-date=7 October 2012 |work=Local Government Elections 2012 |publisher=Electoral Commission of New South Wales |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304174935/https://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/cooma-monaro-shire-council/councillor |url-status=dead }}</ref> The term is much-used in Australian politics, where ranked voting has been universal at federal, state, and local levels since the 1920s.

==References==
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Category:Voting theory

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [First-preference vote](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-preference_vote) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-preference_vote?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.