Vote pairing

Vote pairing occurs when two people commit to voting in a mutually agreed upon manner. Vote swapping is a common example of vote pairing, where a voter in one district agrees to vote tactically for a less-preferred candidate or party who has a greater chance of winning in their district, in exchange for a voter from another district voting tactically for the candidate the first voter prefers, because that candidate has a greater possibility of winning in that district.

Vote pairing occurs informally (i.e., without binding contracts) but sometimes with great sophistication in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

In the UK and Australia, pairing is the mechanism by which two members of parliament of opposing parties agree, with the consent of their party whips, to abstain from voting if the other one is unable to vote. Thus maintaining the balance, of votes if one or the other is unable to attend. A three-line whip would usually be excepted from this agreement. For MPs who are not paired a bisque, a rota system allowing absence is used.