A split ticket is when a voter chooses candidates from different political parties in the same election.
This practice reflects an individual’s willingness to evaluate candidates on their merits, rather than strictly adhering to party lines.
Split-ticket voting can …
Fusion voting allows a candidate’s name to appear on multiple parties’ ballot lines, and to combine his or her votes from those lines.
The practice was widespread in the 19th century, as Democrats benefited from fusion tickets with populist parties, …
Straight ticket voting allows voters to choose every candidate on a single party’s slate by making just one ballot mark.
Over the years, many states that once allowed straight ticket voting have abolished it. In 2020, only seven states …
A “shy voter” is one who does not admit to supporting a certain candidate to pollsters, but still votes for that candidate in the election.
The term comes from the “Shy Tory Effect,” a phenomenon that found British conservatives greatly …
Psephology is the scientific study and statistical analysis of elections and voting.
The term was coined in 1952 by Oxford Professor R. B. McCallum and is derived from the Greek word psephos, which means pebble, and references the …
An “elastic state” is one whose voting outcome in a presidential election is relatively sensitive or responsive to changes in political conditions, such as a change in the national economic mood.
Campaign strategists carefully analyze the preferences and behaviors of …