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An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations. The universal use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens. Elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot. Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results). To elect means "to choose or make a decision" (For example, in contract law, if one party breaches the agreement, the other party may "elect" whether to continue or repudiate the contract), and so sometimes other forms of ballot such as the referendum are referred to as elections, especially in the United States. This article is part of the Politics series Elections
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GNU Free Documentation License How would you reform and simplify the process of presidential elections? Q. The presidential election process long and complicated. How would you reform the elections and explain the reforms that you would recommend and how they would improve teh election process. Asked by Sir van Haag - Tue Feb 24 18:31:42 2009 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. 1. Public financing. Each candidate having equal $$$ to spend would press the national debate toward issues effecting all of the citizens and away from issues generated by the big-money special interests. 2. A shortened time-frame. Public financing (#1 above) would only be disbursed 4 months before the election - thus shortening the election cycle. 3. Elimination of the electoral college. Even when the nation was founded, the electoral college served to overweight the votes of rural citizens and underweight the votes of urban citizens. As the nation's population has flowed toward the cities, this effect has been severely exacerbated, to the point that in the election just past a vote by a person in Wyoming was worth more than 5 times… [cont.] Answered by Anne F - Wed Feb 25 07:51:17 2009 How do I become a candidate in elections? Q. I'm 18 and I have quite a strong interest in politics. Wyatt Roy has inspired me to consider becoming a local Liberal candidate for my electorate in future elections. I have lived in the area all my life and very familiar with it. I feel that I can try and do my bit for it. How do I become one and what are the requirements? Do you need any qualifications and is it a stressful job? Etc. How are the candidates chosen? Asked by Dan - Sun Aug 22 08:06:20 2010 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments A. Good on you, democracy only works when people want to and do participate. There are two ways. You can ally yourself with an electoral party and self-promote enough to be selected as a candidate for the party. You will need to be acceptable to their criteria. Otherwise, you can register as an independent and run in the election that way. You do not need any qualifications etc. I am not sure what the age limit is. Maybe start with the electoral commission (link below). You have two or three years to research how to do it, and to develop some good policies to run with. Also, you need to start making contacts (you will need to raise funds later) and also it will be beneficial if you have a good reputation in your society circles. The better… [cont.] Answered by DereKiwi - Sun Aug 22 08:35:06 2010 How did elections actually work in East Germany?
Q. I know that there were a range of parties (from the SED to the Christian Democrats) that were in the National Front of Germany. So were the elections fixed or was there some change in the number of seats for each party? Asked by Gfal - Thu May 1 08:40:40 2008 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments A. Everyone voted who they thought would be the most glorious and in the end the most glorious won. FDJ fur alles! Answered by A-E D - Fri May 2 12:30:35 2008 From Yahoo Answer Search: "Elections"
See also:
 nytimes.com Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:11:17 GMT+00:00 , Report Shows New York Times It seemed to be the defining narrative of the 2009 elections in New York City: a billionaire mayor pouring $108 million of his own money ...  google.com Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:38:37 GMT+00:00 The Associated Press 7 national elections , the first in two decades. Than Shwe has ruled the country since 1992. The rumors of his retirement, along with that of his ... Myanmar: Top members of Burmese junta resign ahead of elections , but power ... Spero News Myanmar junta intact? UPI.com Myanmar army reshuffle ahead of vote: officials afp rtt news - Democratic Voice of Burma - TODAYonline  stripes.com Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:41:00 GMT+00:00 Stars and Stripes A billboard in Kandahar Province encouraging people to vote in this month?s provincial election depicts an Afghan soldier and an Afghan ... From Google News Search: "Elections" From Yahoo Image Search: "Elections"  buzzytimes.com leneesh Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:41:43 GM Delhi University Students Union . Election. 2010: Victory Of ABVP Leaders. From Google Blog Search: "Elections"  video.tvguide.com Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:28:37 PDT As bombs went off in Baghdad the London-based Iraq elections in Brent, North West London, did not go smoothly either. Some Iraqi-Kurds found they ... video.tvguide.com.  ec.europa.eu Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:00:00 PDT ec.europa.eu.  youtube.com Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:37:55 PDT The deadly Israeli assault on a Flotilla aid ship has caused an outcry in the international community. In the United States the Obama ... youtube.com. From Google Video Search: "Elections" |
The Green Papers
Early Voting Information Center (EVIC) at Reed College
National Association of Election Officials
