Elections & terms
spoiler effect
When a minor candidate draws enough votes from a similar major candidate to change who wins, under plurality rules.
In full
The effect is a property of the counting rule, not of the candidates. Where the winner needs only more votes than anyone else, splitting a bloc can hand victory to a candidate a majority opposed. Runoffs and ranked-choice voting are the two common structural answers to it.
Where to go next
Keep going
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.