An election might be judged to have a lopsided or wipeout result if the winning party wins far more seats than its share of the votes would justify, winning most if not all of the seats. It can be considered to be the opposite of a landslide victory. In politics, a landslide victory (or just a landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election. ...

Since a strong opposition capable of developing alternate policies and holding the government to account is generally regarded as a good thing, lopsided and wipeout results must be regarded as regrettable.

This problem of lopsided and wipeout results is most noticeable with the plurality voting systems in single member constituencies, since plurality voting is a winner-takes-all system, while single-member constituencies have no element of proportional representation.

Some examples of lopsided or wipeout results include:

Australia

Between 1901 and 1949, the upper house of the Federal parliament (Senate) was elected by a system of majoritorian voting. Each state had 3 senators retiring at each half-senate election. Each voter had 3 First Past The Post votes (FPTP). It was often the case that the 3 seats all went the same way, leading to lopsided results in the six states such as 36-0 or 3-33. These results brought the parliament into some disrepute. In 1948, a system of Single Transferable Vote PR was introduced. A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts, variously called first-past-the-post (FPTP or FPP), winner-take-all, plurality voting, or relative majority. ...

Since the introduction of STV in the Senate, the parties have generally been evenly balanced, with minor parties and independents holding the balance of power. While frustrated, the government in the lower house has at least had a lot of different people to negotiate with.

In the 2004 election, the government did the near-impossible and gained the 57% of the vote in one state to obtain a majority in its own right in the Senate from July 2005, when the new Senators take up their seats. The quota winning a majority of seats at 54% is so high because there are an even number of seats; if there were an odd number of seats, the quota would be a more realistic 51%.

In the lower house, FPTP was changed to Preferential Voting in 1919. Preferential Voting allows the so-called Coalition to hold three-cornered contest without any risk of the result be spoiled by rogue candidates. At almost all elections, the government has had a clear majority - even a majority of 1 will do. It would be hard to show that only FPTP achieves strong government.

In the 1974 Queensland state election, using Single member electorates and Preferential Voting, the Labor opposition was reduced to a "cricket team" of eleven, against the coalition government at 72(?) seats. For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ...

Canada

• In the 1993 Canadian election the governing Progressive Conservative Party was reduced from a strong majority government to only two seats.
• In the British Columbia general election, 2001 the governing NDP was reduced to two seats, with the other 77 being won by the Liberals.
• New Brunswick general election, 1995 51.6% - 30.9% 48 - 7 (wipe out)
• New Brunswick general election, 1991 47.1% - 21.2% 46 - 8-3-1 (lop-sided)
• New Brunswick general election, 1987 60.4% - 28.6% 55 - 0 (clean sweep)
• Ontario general election, 1987 47.3% 25.7% - 95 - 19 - 16 (lopsided)
• Prince Edward Island general election, 2003 54.0% 42.9% - 23 -4 (wipe out)
• Prince Edward Island general election, 2000 57.9% 33.7% - 26 -1 (wipe out)
• Prince Edward Island general election, 1996 47.8% 44.8% - 18 -8 - 1 (strong government; strong opposition)
• Prince Edward Island general election, 1935 51.7% 48.3% - 30 -0 (wipe out)
• Saskatchewan general election, 1991 51.1% - 25.5% 55 - 10 - 1 (lopsided)
• Saskatchewan general election, 1982 54.1% - 37.6% 55 - 9 (wipe out)
• Saskatchewan general election, 1944 53.1% - 35.4% 47 - 5 (wipe out)
• Saskatchewan general election, 1934 48.0% - 24.0% 50 - 5 (wipe out)

(Redirected from 1993 Canadian election) The 1993 Canadian federal election, which took place on October 25th, 1993, was one of the most eventful in Canadian history. ... The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 1867 to 2003. ... British Columbia riding map showing the winning parties and their vote percentage of each riding. ... The 1995 election in the Canadian province of New Brunswick marked the debut of Bernard Valcourt as a provincial politician, and as leader of a reinvigorated Progressive Conservative Party. ... The 1991 election in the Canadian province of New Brunswick was difficult to predict from the outset. ... In the 1987 election in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the Liberal Party swept to victory, for the first time since 1970, in a massive landslide by winning all 58 seats in the legislature. ... David Petersons Liberals were returned to power with a large majority. ... Map of PEIs ridings showing winning parties and their popular vote. ... Map of PEIs ridings showing winning parties and their popular vote. ... Map of PEIs ridings showing winning parties and their popular vote. ... Results of the 1935 PEI general election. ... The Twenty-Second Provincial General Election in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was held on October 21, 1991. ... The Twentieth Provincial General Election in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was held on April 26, 1982. ... The Saskatchewan general election of 1944 was the tenth provincial election in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. ... The Eighth Provincial General Election in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was held on June 19, 1934. ...

Sources

1. [1] Singapore's Constituency Boundary Map