Vote pairing

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (October 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of the Politics series
Voting
Balloting Ballots Absentee ballot Provisional ballot Sample ballot Candidates and Ballot measures Write-in candidate Electorate Slate Ticket Collection Ballot box Compulsory voting Early voting Electronic voting Open ballot Polling place Postal voting Precinct Vote center Voting booth Counting Popular vote Tally Voting machine
Electoral systems Plurality and majoritarian systems First-past-the-post voting Two-round system Instant-runoff voting Plurality-at-large voting General ticket Usual judgment Proportional and semi-proportional systems Single non-transferable vote Cumulative voting Binomial system Party-list Single transferable voting Spare vote Mixed-member systems Mixed-member proportional Additional member system Mixed single vote (positive vote transfer) Scorporo (negative vote transfer) Mixed ballot transferable vote Alternative Vote Plus Dual-member proportional Rural–urban proportional Majority bonus system Parallel voting (Mixed member majoritarian)
Voting strategies Issue voting Fusion voting Split-ticket voting Straight-ticket voting Tactical voting Vote pairing Protest votes Abstention Donkey vote Election boycott None of the above Refused ballot Spoilt vote
Voting patterns and effects Coattail effect Likely voter Paradox of voting Passive electioneering Vote splitting Political apathy Voter fatigue Voter turnout Protest votes
Electoral fraud Ballot harvesting Ballot stuffing Felony disenfranchisement Vote buying Voter suppression Voter caging Prevention Election ink Secret ballot Voter registration
Politics portal
v t e

Vote swapping, also called co-voting or vote pairing, occurs when a voter in one district agrees to vote tactically for a less-preferred candidate or party who has a greater chance of winning in their district, in exchange for a voter from another district voting tactically for the candidate the first voter prefers, because that candidate has a greater possibility of winning in that district.

Vote pairing occurs informally (i.e. without binding agreements), but sometimes with great sophistication in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, where voters often use online venues to organize such strategies. In all three countries, the process has been subjected to legal challenge and been deemed legal.

Using UK elections as an example, tactical voting is often between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. There may be one constituency in which the Labour Party and the Conservative Party candidates are running in a tight race, with the Liberal Democrat far behind. In another constituency, the Liberal Democrat may be in a close race with either a Labour or Conservative candidate. A Liberal Democrat voter in the first constituency would agree to vote for the Labour candidate in exchange for a Labour voter from the second constituency voting for the Liberal Democrat candidate, allowing either Labour or the Liberal Democrats to pick up an extra seat from the Conservatives.

Tactical voting has been used since 2000 as a strategy in U.S. presidential elections. In this practice, major party voters from safe states support third-party candidates in exchange for voters from swing states voting for one of the two front runners. Through the United States Electoral College, all of a state's votes go to the winning presidential candidate for that state, no matter how close the margin (Maine and Nebraska excepted). Third-party candidates for president frequently garner no Electoral College votes, but can siphon off total votes from the front runners in order to call attention to their causes. In vote-pairing agreements, third-party supporters in swing states vote strategically with major-party supporters in non-swing states, in the hope that the third-party candidate will get more of the popular vote, while the major-party candidate gets more of the Electoral College vote.