An acclamation is a form of

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

that does not use a

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

. It derives from the

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts.

Voting

Voice vote

The most frequent type of acclamation is a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

, in which the voting group is asked who favors and who opposes the proposed candidate. In the event of a lack of opposition, the candidate is considered elected. In

parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense ...

, acclamation is a form of

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

. This form of election is most commonly associated with

papal election A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. ...

s (see Acclamation in papal elections), though this method was discontinued by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's apostolic constitution '' Universi Dominici gregis''. It is also sometimes found in the context of parliamentary decisions, or

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

presidential nominating conventions (where it is often used to nominate the

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a p ...

and incumbent Presidents).

Uncontested election

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, a candidate for a parliamentary, legislative or municipal position is said to be elected by acclamation if he or she has no opponents for the seat, an eventuality that rarely occurs federally, but is more common in legislative elections in the northern territories and

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

elections. The last instance of an acclamation in an election to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

was in 1957, when

George Doucett George Henry Doucett (May 16, 1897 – May 1, 1974) was a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1937 to 1957 and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1957 to 19 ...

was acclaimed in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

following the death of his predecessor

William Gourlay Blair William Gourley Blair (January 13, 1890 in Bathurst Township, Ontario – June 16, 1957) was a politician and physician. Career He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1945 election as a Member of the Progressive Conserv ...

. Just two months before,

Chesley William Carter Chesley William Carter (July 29, 1902 – January 14, 1994) was a Canadian Member of Parliament representing the riding of Burin—Burgeo and a senator for Grand Bank, Newfoundland and Labrador. Biography Born in Pass Island, Hermitage Bay, ...

had been the last person to be acclaimed in a

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. In the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

riding of

Inuvik Boot Lake Inuvik Boot Lake is a territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Together with Inuvik Twin Lakes, it is one of two electoral districts that represent Inuvik; both were created in 1999 from th ...

Floyd Roland Floyd K. Roland (born November 23, 1961) is a politician from Northwest Territories, Canada. He was the 11th premier of the Northwest Territories, having held office from October 17, 2007 to October 26, 2011. Previously a town councillor and dep ...

was returned by acclamation in two consecutive elections, in 2003 and 2007.Results of the 2003 Northwest Territories election
-

Elections NWT Elections NWT (french: Élections TNO) is an independent, non-partisan public agency responsible for the administration of territorial general elections, by-elections, and plebiscites in accordance with the ''Elections and Plebiscites Act''. Electi ...

. Retrieved 2010-01-11.

In ancient Rome

Acclamations were ritual verbal expressions of approval and benediction in public (like

gladiatorial games A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

) and private life. The departure and return of imperial

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

was, for example, accompanied by acclamation. In the later

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, expressions of goodwill were reserved for the emperor and certain relatives, who were greeted in this manner during public appearances on special occasions such as their birthdays. By the 4th century AD, acclamations were compulsory for high-level imperial officials.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Elections