Popular election or popular vote may refer to:
* Any
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
in a democracy
* An election taking place under
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
*
Direct election, an election in which people vote directly for the candidate that they want
* Popular vote, in an
indirect election
An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office (direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the old ...
, is the total number of votes received in the first-phase election, as opposed to the votes cast by those elected to take part in the final election
** In
United States presidential election
The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dir ...
s it connotes the total number or percentage of votes cast for a candidate by voters in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., as distinguished from the
electoral college vote which decides the outcome. See also the
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
MD, NJ, IL, HI, WA, MA, DC, VT, CA, RI, NY, CT, CO, DE, NM, OR
MI, PA, TX
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is a proposed interstate compact among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award a ...
*
Referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
, or plebiscite, a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular proposal
*
Straw poll, an ad hoc or unofficial vote
*
Popularity contest, pejorative
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