The two-round electoral system in Russia and the United States

Electoral Systems: Two-Round System

The two-round electoral system is also known as second ballot or runoff voting. It requires the candidate in question to win a majority of the electorate. It is often used in countries with multiparty systems, as the two candidates with the most votes go to a 'second round,' and the candidates with smaller percentages of the total vote are eliminated. This two-round presidential election is also used in Russia. If the United States adopted such a system it would have made little difference in many of its elections, given the lack of dominance of third-party candidates in the United States. However, in the instances where third-party candidates did run, as in the case of Ralph Nader against Al Gore and George W. Bush, a run-off would have occurred. Given that Nader's views were closer to those of Gore, had a run-off occurred, it is likely that Gore would have won the presidency.

In a first-past-the-post system election system with many candidates, where the liberal or conservative vote is fragmented but wins 51% of the popular vote, while the opposing side is consolidated with one candidate and wins 49%, the single candidate will win. However, in a two-round system if one candidate does not win a majority, the more popular oppositional candidate has a chance to prove his or her worth in the second round of elections.