What is the difference between 51%, and 50% plus one?

The percentage sign won’t show in the tags segment, once it is posted.

Not sure what you’re asking here, but here is one interpretation…

50% + one = majority

If you have 500 people, a majority would be 50% (250) plus 1 (251). This is not 51%. It’s 50.2%.
Is this what you’re asking?

If it’s based on a unit of 100, then 51% is the same as 50% +1. But if it’s based on a unit of 1000 then 500+1 would be 50.5% (right?)

My guess is 50% plus one would be whatever the amount is plus one. So, if you are talking about $300 it would be 151. If you talk about 400,000 it would be 200,001.

The question as asked is too unclear to answer.

51% of 1,000,000 = 510,000
(50% + 1) of 1,000,000 = 500,001

When votes on one of two choices are counted of a large population, it is one more vote than 50% that prevails, which when you are talking millions can be much less than 51%.

50% is one half. In the one case you get 1% more than one half and in the other case you get one more than one half. For one hundred things 1% equals one so they are the same, giving 101. For 1,000 things, 1% x 1000 = 10, so in that case you end up with 1010 and one more than a half gives 1001.

51%=50%+1%. 1% can equal any number. E.g., 1% of 1 = 1/100, while 1% of 100 trillion = 1 trillion.

50%+1: While 50% can also equal any number, 1 always equals 1.

I made a mistake in my answer. It should have been 51 instead of 101 and for 1000 it should have been 510 and 501.

This is similar to asking, “What is the difference between 1 and 1%”?

The answer depends on whatever might be 100%.

Thank you all. I ‘m digesting it.

So, “50% plus one” means if it is 200 people let’s say it is 101. But 51% of 200 is 102

^ correct.

I’m curious – in what context did you ask this question?

@DoNotKnow It was just in general.

As a follow up question when should 50% plus one be used and when not?

I can’t imagine a situation where it should be used.

When you need just over 50% it would be used.

Similar to being a FL resident you must live here six months and one day per year.

But some people say 51% plus one it is too low. It should be at least over 60%. So what kind of thing is it too low for, when is it not too low for? Like you need a quorum 66% for x y z. and….

It just depends on the rules or laws that govern the particular thing. Some things are one over 50% and some things are a ⅔ vote, etc., etc. Just like you pointed out.

50%+ 1 is a majority when voting.

Since 50%+1 shows an almost evenly divided decision for a community, people often suggest 60 % (three fifths) as demonstrating a consensus. The US Senate generally requires 60% to move something to a vote.

And many states have ⅔rds as a requirement for certain issues. After Prop 13 was passed in California, a ⅔rds majority is required to pass any property tax increase. Two thirds is a difficult threshold to meet.

Understood.

If there are 101 votes total and the votes cast are 51 to 50 then 51 wins, right?
But check it out: 50% of 101 is 50.5 and 50.5 + 1 is 51.5 which is greater than 51.

The correct definition of a majority is “more than 50 percent”. Thus 101×50% = 50.5.
51 is “more than” 50.5 . . . so it is a majority.