Elections

organization that seeks to influence government policy and actions and be elected to directly take part on government or legislation

thumb|right|A ballot box used in France

Voting is the process of making collective decisions by means of submitting and then adding up individual choices. The choice voted upon is often a candidate for office, but the object of a vote can be anything, for example what kind of food to buy or whether a defendant is innocent or guilty. Voting can be formal, using ballots and specific rules, or informal using raised hands, shouts (such as when the voice vote is used), or movement to indicate preference.

democracy where citizens elect a small set of people to represent them in decision making

territorial division made or used for elections

Ostracism (, ostrakismos) was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often used preemptively as a way of neutralizing someone thought to be a threat to the state or a potential tyrant. The word ostracism continues to be used for various forms of shunning.

system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition

international organization of national parliaments

A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "Related terms" section below.

government dominated by only two groups

thumb|Meeting in the Ridderzaal|Hall of Knights in [[The Hague during the Congress of Europe, 1948]]

poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations

voting style that makes each vote anonymous

authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative

practice of requiring citizens to register to vote and to go to their polling place or vote on election day

election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen

set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office

A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority, the latter sometimes expressed as a vote". Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken. Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature. In consensus democracy, the supermajority

electronic mechanism for casting votes and for counting votes

site of ballot casting in elections

A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a candidate selection occurs.

thumb|Comparative results of 2011 Canadian federal election with or without abstention

body which oversees elections

formal list of political goals that a political party or individual candidate seeks to enact

An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word acclamatio, a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts.

In governance, sortition is the selection of public officials or jurors at random, i.e., by lottery, in order to obtain a representative sample.

voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed or returned by post

election called earlier than scheduled

electoral system

process by which electors can vote prior to the scheduled election day

type of organization of a democracy in terms of the number of parties and their relative power

Co-option, also known as co-optation and sometimes spelt cooption or cooptation, is a term with three common meanings. It may refer to:

type of governing coalitions in Germany

continuous dominance of a single political party in elections

type of democratic government

process of counting votes in an election

vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system

list of persons who are eligible to vote in a particular electoral district

right to run for office

voluntary practice of international relations

election for a city council or other local government

political system in which parliamentary deputies can only enact policies in accordance with concretely transmitted preference by their electors

deliberative assembly acting as part of a legislature

sociological concept

geography of elections

mass abstention by a group of voters during an election

vote that potentially goes to any number of candidates in an election

day when elections are held

election with little or no chance of real voter choice

election result wherein a party or candidate wins by a large margin

ballot cast by someone unable or unwilling to attend their assigned polling station

concept critical to establishing democratic governments

requirement that a person register before they will be permitted to vote, or the process of registering to vote

administrator for a political candidate's campaign

statistic used in the analysis of elections

association without party status that nominates candidates in elections

thumb|Tancredo Neves was one of the two presidents-elect of Brazil who died before taking office.

electoral district considered to be secure

in politics

method for verification of election results