election

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

elec·tion [election elections] BrE [ɪˈlekʃn] NAmE [ɪˈlekʃn] noun
1. uncountable, countable the process of choosing a person or a group of people for a position, especially a political position, by voting
•election campaigns/results
•to win/lose an election
•to fight an election
•to vote in an election
• In America, presidential elections are held every four years.
• The prime minister is about to call (= announce) an election.
• (especially BrE)How many candidates are standing for election?
• (especially NAmE)to run for election
2. uncountable the fact of having been chosen by election
•~ (as sth) We welcome his election as president.
•~ (to sth) a year after her election to the committee
see also ↑by-election, ↑general election

Word Origin:
Middle English: via Old French from Latin electio(n-), from eligere ‘pick out’, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out’ + legere ‘to pick’.

Culture:
elections
In Britain, a general election takes place at least every five years, when the electorate (= all the people in the country who can vote) vote for the Members of Parliament or MPs in the ↑House of Commons. Each MP represents a constituency, which is an area of the country with a roughly equal number of people (about 90 000 people) and is expected to be interested in the affairs of the constituency and to represent the interests of local people. If an MP dies or resigns, a ↑by-election is held in the constituency he or she represented. Before an election one person is chosen by each of the main political parties to be their candidate. Independent candidates, who do not belong to a political party, can also stand for election. Each candidate has to leave a deposit with the ↑returning officer, the person responsible for managing the election, which is returned to them if they win more than 5% of the votes, otherwise they lose their deposit. Before an election, candidates campaign for support in their constituency and local party workers spend their time canvassing, going from house to house to ask people about how they intend to vote. At the national level the parties spend a lot of money on advertising and media coverage. They cannot buy television time, but each party is allowed a number of strictly timed ↑party political broadcasts.
Anyone over the age of 18 has the right to vote at elections, provided they are on the electoral register (= list of adults in a constituency). Voting is not compulsory. The turnout (= number of people who vote) in recent general elections has been about 60%, although in the past 75% was more usual. On the day of the election, called polling day, voters go to a polling station, often in a local school or church hall, and are given a ballot paper. The ballot paper lists all the candidates for that constituency and the parties they represent. The voter goes into a polling booth, where nobody can see what he or she is writing, and puts a cross next to the name of one candidate only. After the polls close, the ballot papers are taken to a central place to be counted. Counting usually takes place on the same day as the election, continuing late into the night if necessary. If the number of votes for two candidates is very close, they can demand a recount. Only the candidate who gets the most votes in each constituency is elected. This system is called first past the post. The winning party, which forms the next government, is the one that wins most seats in Parliament (= has the most MPs).
In the US, elections are held regularly for President of the US, for both houses of ↑Congress and for state and local government offices. Candidates usually run for office with the support of one of the two main political parties, the Republicans or the Democrats, although anyone wanting to run as an independent can organize a petition and ask people to sign it. Some people also run as ↑write-in candidates: they ask voters to add their name to the ballot when they vote. A large amount of money is spent on election campaigning, where candidates try to achieve name recognition (= making their names widely known) by advertising on television, in newspapers and on posters. They take part in debates and hold rallies where they give speeches and go round ‘pressing the flesh’, shaking hands with as many voters as possible.
Only a person over 35 who was born in the US can run for President. Presidential elections are held every four years and early in election year, the political parties choose their candidates through a series of ↑primary elections held in each state. As these races take place it gradually becomes clear which candidates are the strongest and in the summer each party holds a convention to make the final choice of candidates for President and Vice-President. In November, the people go to vote and although the President is said to be directly elected, the official vote is made by an ↑electoral college. Each state has a certain number of electors in the college based on the state’s population. All the electors from a state must vote for the candidate who got the most votes in the state, and the candidate with at least 270 votes out of 538 becomes President. After the election, the new President goes to Washington for the inauguration on 20 January, and takes the oath of office.
Americans over the age of 18 have the right to vote, but only about half of them take part in presidential elections and voter turnout for other elections is even lower. On election day, voters go to polling stations where they first have to sign their name in a book that lists all the voters in the precinct (= area) and then cast a vote. Some states use computerized voting systems and in others voters pull down a metal lever beside the name of the person they want to vote for which operates a mechanical counter. It is possible to select all the candidates from one party, which is called voting a straight ticket, but many voters choose candidates from both parties and vote a split ticket. Journalists and pollsters are allowed to ask people how they voted and these exit polls help to predict election results. However, the results of exit polls may not be announced until polling stations everywhere have closed, in case they influence the result.

Thesaurus:
election noun C, U
•Elections take place every four years.
vote • • ballot • • referendum • • show of hands • |especially journalism poll/the polls •
a/an election/vote/ballot/referendum/poll on sth
a democratic/free election/vote/ballot/poll
hold a/an election/vote/ballot/referendum/poll
call/lose/win a/an election/vote/ballot/referendum

Collocations:
Voting in elections
Running for election
conduct/hold an election/a referendum
(especially NAmE) run for office/election/governor/mayor/president/the White House
(especially BrE) stand for election/office/Parliament/the Labour Party/a second term
hold/call/contest a general/national election
launch/run a presidential election campaign
support/back a candidate
sway/convince/persuade voters/the electorate
appeal to/attract/woo/target (NAmE) swing voters/(BrE) floating voters
fix/rig/steal an election/the vote
Voting
go to/be turned away from (especially BrE) a polling station/(NAmE) a polling place
cast a/your vote/ballot (for sb)
vote for the Conservative candidate/the Democratic party
mark/spoil your ballot paper
count (BrE) the postal votes/(especially NAmE) the absentee ballots
go to/be defeated at the ballot box
get/win/receive/lose votes
get/win (60% of) the popular/black/Hispanic/Latino/Muslim vote
win the election/(in the US) the primaries/a seat in Parliament/a majority/power
lose an election/the vote/your majority/your seat
win/come to power in a landslide (victory) (= with many more votes than any other party)
elect/re-elect sb (as) mayor/president/an MP/senator/congressman/congresswoman
Taking power
be sworn into office/in as president
take/administer (in the US) the oath of office
swear/take (in the UK) an/the oath of allegiance
give/deliver (in the US) the president's inaugural address
take/enter/hold/leave office
appoint sb (as) ambassador/governor/judge/minister
form a government/a cabinet
serve two terms as prime minister/in office
more collocations at ↑economy, ↑politics

Synonyms:
election
vote • poll • referendum • ballot
These are all words for an event in which people choose a representative or decide sth by voting.
election • an occasion on which people officially choose a political representative or government by voting: ▪ Who did you vote for in the last election?
vote • an occasion on which a group of people vote for sb/sth: ▪ They took a vote on who should go first.
poll • (journalism) the process of voting in an election: ▪ They suffered a defeat ▪ at the polls ▪.
referendum • an occasion on which all the adults in a country can vote on a particular issue
ballot • the system of voting by marking an election paper, especially in secret; an occasion on which a vote is held: ▪ The leader will be chosen by secret ballot.
Ballot is usually used about a vote within an organization rather than an occasion on which the public vote.
a national/local election/vote/poll/referendum/ballot
to have/hold/conduct a(n) election/vote/poll/referendum/ballot

Example Bank:
•All counties have now certified their election returns.
•Education is a key election issue.
•Elections are scheduled for November.
•It was successful in rallying voters at election time.
•Membership of the committee is by election.
•Predicting the result of close elections is a perilous game.
•The Governor faces an unprecedented recall election.
•The US is reaching the end of its latest presidential election cycle.
•The election turnout in 2008 was high.
•The party swept Turkish elections in November.
•The party won a landslide election.
•The people will decide this election and they will prove all the polls wrong.
•The prime minister may decide to call an early election.
•The violence in the country will not derail the elections.
•They demanded a rerun of the disputed presidential election.
•a bitterly disputed election
•claims that voter fraud had stolen the election for the Republicans
•her election to the Senate
•in the 2001 general election
•opinion poll results in the run-up to elections
•the democratic concept of popular elections
•the scheduled Lebanese elections in May
•votes which could swing the entire national election
•He first stood for election when he was 21.
•It will be a hard-fought election campaign.
•Local elections will be held later this year.
•Presidential elections take place every four years.
•She's yet to say whether she will be running for election.
•The country's first free elections took place in 1990.
•The first election results will be coming in very soon.
•The party promised this in their election manifesto.
•The prime minister is expected to call an election in the spring.
•Who did you vote for in the last election?