Election Glossary

Election Glossary

Ballot	a piece of paper or other object which records voters' choices
Candidate	person who seeks, or is nominated for an office; a nominee
Caucus	meeting of members or leaders of a political party to make plans, choose candidates, or decide how to vote
Committed Delegate	a delegate who is pledged to vote for a certain candidate
Compromise	to settle a quarrel or difference of opinion by agreeing that each will give up a part of what he or she is demanding
Concession Statement	speech made by candidate that formally announces that he or she has lost an election
Convention	a meeting of delegates from a political party
Corruption	dishonesty; the use of illegal means to urge someone to do wrong
Crossover Vote	vote by a member of one party for a candidate of another party
Dark Horse	an unexpected, unknown winner or person nominated for political office
Deadlock	a stopping of activity between two equal opposing sides and neither one will compromise
Debate	a structured discussion, supervised by a moderator, between two or more people with different points of view about one or more issues
Delegate	a person who has power to act for others; a representative
Direct Election	election where voters vote directly for candidates
Domestic	inside a nation's boundaries
Donors	people who give money to candidate campaigns
Editorial	newspaper or magazine editor’s or publisher’s opinion on a subject
Electoral College	group of people chosen by voters by state to elect the President and Vice-President of the United States
Electorate	eligible voters
Endorsement	approval or support of a candidate
Foreign Policy	government's plan of action that deals with other countries
Front Runner	the candidate with the best chance winning the election
Image	appearance; impression that a person, group, or organization presents to the people
Inaugurate	install in office with a ceremony
Incumbent	current holder of a public office
Independent	not a member of a political party
Indirect Election	election where voters elect representatives to vote for candidates
Keynote Speaker	the person who gives the opening speech at the nominating convention
Landslide	an overwhelming majority of votes for one candidate or political party
Media	radio, television, newspapers, magazines, internet news organizations
Mudslinging	an attempt to discredit the opponents by not talking about legitimate issues but focusing on accusations of wrong doing
Nominee	person chosen to run for public office; a candidate
Over the Top	when votes are counted and the candidate wins the number of votes to win the election
Party Bosses	city or state leaders of political party organizations
Plank	a section of the platform of a political party usually focuses on a specific issue
Platform	a national party’s goals and views on important domestic and foreign policy issues
Political Action Committee (PAC)	an independent fund-raising campaign organization set up by a special interest group
Political Party	a group that has similar views and philosophies on public issues and that works for the election of party members for public office
Poll	a survey of what the public thinks about a particular subject or candidate
Precinct	a local voting district in a county or city
Primary	an election in which members of a political party choose delegates to represent them at the national nominating convention
Rank and File	typical voter
Reform	a proposed change which intends to improve government or society
Registered	applying for the right to vote
Seconding Speech	speech giving support for the nominated candidate
Slate	list of candidates to be considered for nomination or election
Slogan	word or phrase used by a political party or candidate to advertise the purpose or stand on the issues; motto
Special Interest Group	a group of people who want similar things from the government and who work to gain support for their issue
Strategy	a plan to accomplish a goal
Suffrage	the right to vote
Taking the Stump	make campaign speeches
Third Party	any political party that is not one of the two major parties-- Democratic or Republican
Uncommitted Delegate	a delegate who can vote for any candidate, not pledged
Underdog	candidate considered unlikely to win
Volunteer	a person who offers his or her services to a candidate or organization for free
Whistle-Stop Campaign	early method of campaigning where a candidate crossed the country by train and made speeches at each place the train stopped to gather votes
Winner-Take-All Election	if a candidate receives most of the popular votes he or she wins all of the state’s electoral votes
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