Write-in candidatePolitical term Electoral systems Voting strategies Voting patterns and effects Electoral fraud and prevention Politics portalvte A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot.
OvervoteSpoiled vote in an electionPart of the Politics seriesVoting Balloting Ballots Absentee ballot Provisional ballot Sample ballot Candidates and Ballot measures Write-in candidate Electorate Slate Ticket Collection Ballot box Compulsory voting Early voting Electronic voting Open ballot Polling place Postal voting Precinct Vote center Voting booth Counting Popular vote Tally Voting machine Electoral systems Winner-take-all systems First-past-the-post voting Two-round system Instant-runoff voting Plurality-at-large voting General ticket Usual judgment Proportional and semi-proportional systems Single non-transferable vote Cumulative voting Binomial system Party-list Single transferable voting Spare vote Mixed-member systems Mixed-member proportional Mixed-member majoritarian Additional member system Mixed single vote (positive vote transfer) Scorporo (negative vote transfer) Mixed ballot transferable vote Alternative Vote Plus Dual-member proportional Rural–urban proportional Majority bonus system Parallel voting Voting strategies Issue voting Fusion voting Public opinion Split-ticket voting Lesser-evil voting Straight-ticket voting Tactical voting Vote pairing Protest votes Abstention Donkey vote Election boycott None of the above Refused ballot Spoilt vote Voting patterns and effects Coattail effect Voting advice application Likely voter Paradox of voting Passive electioneering Vote splitting Political apathy Voter fatigue Voter turnout Protest votes Electoral fraud and prevention Ballot harvesting Ballot stuffing Carousel voting Family voting Voter intimidation Vote buying Voter suppression Voter caging Prevention Biometric voter registration Election ink Secret ballot Voter identification laws Voter invitation card Voter registration End-to-end verifiable voting Politics portalvte An overvote occurs when one votes for more than the maximum number of selections allowed in a contest.Elections in the United StatesElections in the United States are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels, to perform political representation. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always are elected by the popular vote of their state and in turn vote in line with those voters' preference (exceptions include faithless electors).
Voter rolloffBallot with too few choices selected Voter drop-off, roll-off, or undervoting occurs when a voter selects fewer options in a contest than the maximum number allowed or makes no selection at all for a particular election. Undervotes may be intentional or unintentional. Intentional undervotes arise from deliberate abstention.
BallotDocument used to cast votes in an election A pile of ballots used in the 2022 Latvian parliamentary election 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 voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th century. For each election, each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared.
Electoral systemAn electoral system is a set of rules and mechanisms used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments and also in non-political settings such as business, nonprofit organizations and informal organisations.
VotingVoting is the process of making collective decisions by means of submitting and then adding up individual choices. The choice voted upon is often an election of a member or members to conduct political representation, 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.
ElectionAn election is a group decision-making process whereby a portion or all of a population or group votes to choose an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office or other position of responsibility. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government, such as cities or towns.
Ranked votingRanked voting is any voting system that uses voters' rankings of candidates to choose a single winner or multiple winners. More formally, a ranked vote system depends only on voters' order of preference of the candidates. Ranked voting systems vary dramatically in how preferences are tabulated and counted. This gives them different properties with respect to satisfying various voting groups and adherence to mathematical rules.
Protest voteA protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms and reflects numerous voter motivations, including political apathy. Where voting is compulsory, casting a blank vote is available for those who do not wish to choose a candidate, or to protest.
Secret ballotAnonymous voting method Presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solís votes in the 2014 Costa Rican general election behind a privacy screen which says "The VOTE is SECRET"; Solís was elected president in the election The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote buying.Vote countingVote counting is the process of counting votes in an election. It can be done manually or by machines. In the United States, the compilation of election returns and validation of the outcome that forms the basis of the official results is called canvassing. Counts are simplest in elections where just one seat is being filled and only a few candidates are on the ballot, and these are often counted manually.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.