What are runoff elections and when are they used?
In most Texas elections, candidates for office must win a majority of the vote in order to win an election. Thus, in an election with several candidates on the ballot, it is fairly common for no one candidate to win more than 50% of the vote. It such cases, the top two vote-getters face each other in a second election, called a runoff. Runoffs are often seen in primary and local elections.
