What is a “supermajority” in an election?

A supermajority in an election is when a majority of votes (as defined by the rules related to the election) is greater than fifty percent of the total votes cast in that election. For example, in Massachusetts, a supermajority of sixty percent of the total votes cast is required for Constitutional amendments to be approved by voters. This means that over half of all ballots must vote in favor of the Constitutional amendment for it to pass. The purpose of requiring a supermajority is to ensure that a large portion of voters truly support the change that is being proposed. It also ensures that any major changes to the state’s laws or Constitution must have broad support from the population in order to be adopted. This prevents a small faction of voters from pushing through policies that the majority may not agree with. On the other hand, a supermajority can make it difficult for certain reforms to be passed, as sixty percent can be a difficult threshold to reach. It can also be difficult to persuade so many voters to support one particular issue. Overall, supermajority requirements in elections do help to ensure that any major changes are supported by a large portion of the population.

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What is a “supermajority” in an election?

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