Which one of the following features is correct about the 'First Past the Post System' of election?

Correct — A, A candidate who wins may not get the majority of votes. First past the post divides the country into single-member constituencies and elects whoever polls the most votes in each one. The winner needs a plurality, not more than half. In a four-cornered fight a candidate on thirty-one per cent beats three rivals on twenty-five, twenty-three and twenty-one per cent and is duly returned, even though sixty-nine per cent of voters chose somebody else. This is not a defect that occasionally shows up; in a country with as many serious parties as India it is the normal outcome, and it carries up to the national level, where a party can command a comfortable Lok Sabha majority on well under half the popular vote. Each of the other three options describes a different electoral system. Multi-member constituencies belong to list systems and to the single transferable vote. Voting for a party rather than a person is what a closed party list asks of the elector, whereas the Indian ballot paper carries candidates' names and symbols. And seats awarded in proportion to vote share is the definition of proportional representation, which is precisely what first past the post does not do.

• (b)More than one representative may be elected from one constituency — Describes a multi-member constituency. Under first past the post each constituency returns exactly one member, which is why reserving a seat for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes means reserving a whole constituency.
• (c)Voters vote for the party, not the candidate — Inverted. A closed party list asks the voter to choose a party; the Indian ballot names individual candidates, and a voter may back a candidate whose party they do not otherwise support.
• (d)Every party gets seats in the legislature in proportion to percentage of votes that it gets — That is the definition of proportional representation. First past the post routinely over-rewards the largest party and leaves a party with a spread-out national vote holding few seats or none.

India elects the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies by first past the post. The territory is divided into constituencies, each returning one member, and the candidate with the highest number of valid votes wins outright — no second round, no transfer of preferences, no threshold. The Constituent Assembly considered proportional representation and rejected it for direct elections, preferring a system voters could understand and one that gives every locality a single identifiable representative.

The fastest route through this item is to notice that three options are positive descriptions of a rival system and only one describes what happens under a plurality rule. Options (b), (c) and (d) are, respectively, multi-member seats, list voting and proportionality — all features of proportional representation. That leaves (a). It is also worth knowing that India does use proportional representation, just not for its directly elected houses: the Rajya Sabha, the elected seats of the State Legislative Councils, and the offices of President and Vice-President are all filled by proportional representation with the single transferable vote. Examiners set questions on the boundary between the two, so the useful mental line is direct election by the people means first past the post, election by an assembly of representatives means the single transferable vote.

• Under first past the post the country is divided into single-member constituencies and the candidate polling the most votes in each is elected, whether or not that is more than half the votes cast.
• India uses first past the post for the Lok Sabha and for the State Legislative Assemblies.
• The Rajya Sabha, the elected members of State Legislative Councils, and the President and Vice-President of India are chosen by proportional representation through the single transferable vote.
• Reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes work by reserving entire constituencies, which is only possible because each constituency returns one member.
• First past the post tends to give the leading party a larger share of seats than of votes, and to under-represent parties whose support is spread thinly across many constituencies.

• Reading 'majority' loosely. First past the post needs the most votes, which is a plurality; a majority means more than half, and the winner often has neither.
• Assuming India uses one system throughout. The Rajya Sabha and the President are elected proportionally.
• Treating a reserved constituency as a multi-member seat; it is still a single-member seat, merely one only a listed candidate may contest.

As a features question like this one, as a which-system-elects-which-office match, or in reverse — asking which feature is NOT true of first past the post.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The President of India is elected by which one of the following methods?

  • (a)First past the post
  • (b)Proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote
  • (c)Direct election by all adult citizens
  • (d)Simple majority of both Houses of Parliament sitting together

  Answer(b) Proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote — an electoral college of elected MPs and elected MLAs votes by preference.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the first past the post system, how many members does each constituency return?

  • (a)One
  • (b)Two
  • (c)Three
  • (d)A number fixed in proportion to its population

  Answer(a) One — the system rests on single-member constituencies, which is why a whole constituency has to be reserved to reserve a seat.