electoral

electoral — adjective

1. connected with the process of choosing political leaders or representatives thro

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

connected with the process of choosing political leaders or representatives through voting

Example

Quan is studying the electoral systems of different countries for his political science class.

collocation: electoral system

The opposition party has promised to introduce new electoral laws before the next election.

collocation: electoral laws

Common collocations
  • electoral system
  • electoral reform
  • electoral college
  • electoral campaign
  • electoral process
  • electoral victory
  • electoral defeat
  • electoral boundary
  • electoral register
Synonyms
  • voting

    broader and less formal; voting process vs. electoral process are nearly interchangeable, but voting is not restricted to political contexts

  • ballot

    used attributively in ballot box, ballot paper; narrower focus on the physical act of casting votes

  • polling

    restricted to the day or place of voting (polling station, polling day); does not cover the full electoral system

Grammar Patterns

electoral + noun

Usage Note

Most commonly found before nouns such as system, reform, college, campaign, process, boundary, and register. In news reporting, it also frequently appears in the phrases electoral victory and electoral defeat.

Common Mistakes

The country will hold an electoral next month.
The country will hold an election next month.
electoral is an adjective; election is the noun for the event itself.
They are running for electoral office.
They are running for elected office.
'electoral' describes the system/process of elections; 'elected' describes a position obtained via election.

Word family

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • electoral college
  • electoral register
  • electoral roll
  • electoral reform
  • electoral campaign
  • electoral district
  • electoral boundary
  • electoral victory
  • electoral defeat
  • electoral fraud
  • electoral turnout

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Electoral comes from the Latin word elector (meaning 'one who chooses'), combined with the English suffix -al ('relating to'). The root goes back even further to eligere ('to pick out, select'). The word entered English in the late 1700s as democracy and voting systems expanded, and it became widely used in political and legal writing during the 1800s.