Key Terms
- ballot fatigue
- the result when a voter stops voting for offices and initiatives at the bottom of a long ballot
- caucus
- a form of candidate nomination that occurs in a town-hall style format rather than a day-long election; usually reserved for presidential elections
- chronic minority
- voters who belong to political parties that tend not to be competitive in national elections because they are too small to become a majority or because of the Electoral College system distribution in their state
- closed primary
- an election in which only voters registered with a party may vote for that party’s candidates
- coattail effect
- the result when a popular presidential candidate helps candidates from his or her party win their own elections
- delegates
- party members who are chosen to represent a particular candidate at the party’s state- or national-level nominating convention
- district system
- the means by which electoral votes are divided between candidates based on who wins districts and/or the state
- early voting
- an accommodation that allows voting up to two weeks before Election Day
- Electoral College
- the constitutionally created group of individuals, chosen by the states, with the responsibility of formally selecting the next U.S. president
- incumbency advantage
- the advantage held by officeholders that allows them to often win reelection
- incumbent
- the current holder of a political office
- initiative
- law or constitutional amendment proposed and passed by the voters and subject to review by the state courts; also called a proposition
- midterm elections
- the congressional elections that occur in the even-numbered years between presidential election years, in the middle of the president’s term
- open primary
- an election in which any registered voter may vote in any party’s primary or caucus
- platform
- the set of issues important to the political party and the party delegates
- political action committees (PACs)
- organizations created to raise money for political campaigns and spend money to influence policy and politics
- recall
- the removal of a politician or government official by the voters
- referendum
- a yes or no vote by citizens on a law or candidate proposed by the state government
- residency requirement
- the stipulation that citizen must live in a state for a determined period of time before a citizen can register to vote as a resident of that state
- shadow campaign
- a campaign run by political action committees and other organizations without the coordination of the candidate
- straight-ticket voting
- the practice of voting only for candidates from the same party
- super PACs
- officially known as Independent Expenditure-Only Committees; organizations that can fundraise and spend as they please to support or attack a candidate but not contribute directly to a candidate or strategize with a candidate’s campaign
- top-two primary
- a primary election in which the two candidates with the most votes, regardless of party, become the nominees for the general election
- voter fatigue
- the result when voters grow tired of voting and stay home from the polls
- voting-age population
- the number of citizens over eighteen
- voting-eligible population
- the number of citizens eligible to vote
- winner-take-all system
- all electoral votes for a state are given to the candidate who wins the most votes in that state
