First-past-the-post本意是wining a race by being the first to reach the finish line，意为第一个到达终点而赢得赛跑第一名。

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》对post这一术语解释为: Winning in an election because one has received the most rotes though not necessarily an absolute majority[以得票最多(但不一定超过半数)在选举中获胜]。

First-past-the-post voting是英国议会制度中的选举制度，是指简单多数获选，或称为领先者当选相对多数制、简单多数制、先驰得点制、赢者全得制，指在单一选区中，选民只需投票一次，所有候选人中最多票者当选，不论票数多寡。约三分之一的国家使用此选举制度。该选举制度把整个州划分为若干选区（县区、市、镇），每一个选区从候选人中选出一名或数位议员（House或Senate)，一个选民只能投一票给本选区的一个候选人。当选的是赢得最多选区数的候选人，而不是获总票数最高者。

其英文释义参考如下：

First-past-the-post voting (FPTP or FPP) is an electoral system wherein voters cast a vote for a single candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins the election. Analogous systems for multi-winner contests are known as plurality block voting or "block voting" systems; both FPTP and block voting are "plurality" systems in that the winner needs only a plurality (the greatest number) of the votes and not an absolute majority (greater than half). The term first-past-the-post is a metaphor from horse racing of the plurality-voted candidate winning such a race; the electoral system is formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts, and informally called choose-one voting in contrast to ranked votingor score voting.

参考

Concise Oxford Dictionary（1999）

《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

Wikipedia