Election administration

The term “motor voter” refers to a law in the United States that allows eligible citizens to register to vote when they apply for or renew their driver’s license.

This law, known as the National Voter Registration Act …

In politics, “ballot box stuffing” is a term that refers to the practice of illegally submitting more than one vote in a ballot in which just one vote is actually permitted. The goal is ballot box stuffing is to rig …

Ranked-choice voting is an alternative to plurality elections —  which are when whoever receives the most votes wins, even if they don’t earn a majority of all votes.

Bangor Daily News: “Voters can rank as many of the candidates …

A firehouse primary is a candidate nominating contest funded and overseen by a local party organization rather than public election officials.

A standard primary is operated by county and state election officials who are not affiliated with any party. Firehouse …

A “by-election” is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections.

It’s also frequently referred to as a special election.

Typically, a by-election occurs when the incumbent has resigned or died, but …

“Dummymander” is a play on the term “gerrymander,” and it refers to a redrawing of a district map that actually ends up benefiting the opposite party that was designed to help.

When a political party in power reshapes …

A jungle primary is an election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party.

It’s also known as the blanket primary, open primary or top two primary, since the top two …

The “Election Administrator’s Prayer” is a phrase that is used to refer to the challenges and responsibilities faced by those who are responsible for administering elections.

The phrase is meant to be humorous and tongue-in-cheek, highlighting the many difficult and …

An “open primary” is an election that allows voters to select candidates on one party’s ballot without declaring their own party affiliation.

Open primaries are often contrasted with closed primaries, in which only registered members of a …

Petitioning is a phase in a campaign where organizers collect signatures to put a candidate’s name on the ballot.

How many signatures are needed depends on the jurisdiction and the office sought; some states allow candidates to pay a fee …

An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable to visit the official polling place on Election Day.

This type of vote is normally submitted by mail.

Increasing the ease of access to absentee ballots are seen …

A blanket primary is a primary election whereby each voter can select one candidate per office regardless of party. This primary is different from open or closed primaries, which require each ballot to only feature votes for candidates from …