official ballot that allows citizens of a particular district to vote in absentia.  Military personnel and businesspeople are examples of the people who take advantage of this particular service the most.

an official piece of paper or card (or more modern facsimile) used to register a vote.  Such casting of votes is done in secret.

This is the practice of one person voting multiple times or fabricating multiple ballots to ensure the victory of one candidate over another.

Better known as a referendum, this is a measure that is conceived by a legislature but put to the voters for approval

This is when voters choose a candidate based on the likelihood of their victory, convinced so by either those around them or in the presentation of the news by the media

Battleground states are those that could be won by any presidential candidate and could represent a significant impact on the electoral count. 

“The Beltway” is a pejorative term that is used to showcase the shut-off and out-of-touch characteristics of those who serve in Washington, D.C. 

moderate-to-conservative members of the Democratic Party who first emerged by name with the support of Republican President Ronald Reagan’s tax-cut measures in the early 1980s.

a group of conservative Democrats from southern and western states that voted for and supported Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980. 

a term to describe a politician’s use of their authority, charisma and perceived mandate to push through their agenda on the city, state or federal level. 

a direct approach to voters in order to ascertain how they will vote or how they feel about particular issues. 

a word that might have origins from Native American tribes, is an exclusive meeting of a party’s members to decide delegates to a nominating convention as well as presidential candidates during the primary season. 

A person whose political beliefs are not nor cannot be characterized as either liberal or conservative but have elements of each side. 

A closed primary is an election where only members of one party can vote in that party’s primaries.

The idea of “coattails” is when the success and popularity of one candidate/politician will lead voters to elect other candidates of the same party. 

The CPD was created in 1987 and its purpose is to conduct debates between viable presidential and vice-presidential candidates as well as conduct research and studies on the debate. 

a conservative is one who argues for smaller government. 

a collection of voters or residents within a particular district represented by an elected official

A dark horse candidate is characterized as one with, at the beginning of a race, little chance of winning or having little recognition beyond their immediate family. 

Unlike realignment, that highlights voters moving from one major party to the other, this is the movement of voters from one of the two major parties to a third party or aligning themselves with an independent

A delegate is one who is chosen or voted to act on behalf of others.  This is seen, in particular, with the nominating conventions prior to presidential elections. 

The modern-day Democrat Party is the oldest, continuous political party in the United States. 

This term refers to the type of people who vote for the Democrat Party. 

an event where the people make the choices without any representative serving such a role. 

This occurs when the party that controls the White House does not have complete control over the Congress, or possibly, no control at all. 

-During the administration preceding an election, various politicians posture and position themselves as the favorite for their party in the coming vote. 

-Between the mid-term election and the upcoming general election, various candidates announce themselves after extensive straw polls and “feelers” to determine their validity as a candidate.

-Beginning the year before an election, parties hold debates between potential candidates. 

-In January of election year, primaries begin to select a party’s candidate. 

-The summer of election year, each party holds

-nominating conventions to select their candidate.

-Campaigning begins in earnest after the convention.

-The first Tuesday after the first Monday of November is Election Day. 

-At the end of the following January, the victor is sworn in.

According to federal law, general elections are to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November – once every four years.

An elector is one who is allowed and qualified to vote in an election. 

The Electoral College was created to help decide presidential elections. 

As the name suggests, this term refers to voting by use of computers or some other type of electronic device. 

An exit poll is any kind of data gathering of one after they have voted in an election. 

A faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College who does not cast his electoral vote in the way in which he or she pledged to.

Originally, it referred to a wealthy contributor to a political campaign and the influence they wield but today, it is a general pejorative term for any wealthy or privileged person as seen in the cartoon referring to “fat cats” on Wall Street or those that head large corporations.

Someone who is strongly favored as a presidential candidate by delegates from their own state. 

Passed by Congress in 1971, the act is meant to regulate how national election campaigns raise money and report their contributions.

As part of the act, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was created to enforce the rules and regulations of the FECA. 

This law allows members of Congress free mailing to their constituents. 

The term simply refers to the early dates of state primaries prior to, normally, the beginning of February. 

Front runner

refers to one who builds up or maintains a lead in a political race. 

In political terms (it has many applications), it refers to the gap between the amount of women and the amount of men who vote as well as their voting behavior. 

It is the practice of drawing up a legislative district to favor a particular party or ethnic group.  The name stems from an 1812-era Massachusetts district shaped like a salamander

This is political action done at the

local level and normally outside the framework of established

This is political action done at the

local level and normally outside the framework of established political parties and movements.

parties and movements.

Presidential debates are ran by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a body that determines the rules and sites of debates.  It has been criticized in the past for excluding third party candidates.

During the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections, President Ronald Reagan was able to sway conservative Democrats to vote for him and support his policies.  These voters were mostly characterized as white, northern working-class men who felt the Democrat Party had abandoned the working class in favor of other groups.

This is a process that occurs every ten years (after the census) requiring state legislatures to redraw all congressional districts based on the population changes that occurred. 

Since 1960, the Republican Party, like the Democrat Party, have enjoyed the support of some consistent groups of voters to include:  men, white Protestants, business leaders, rural dwellers and those making over $50,000 a year.

The term refers to the southern states a near complete support of the Democrat Party for the party’s support of post-Reconstruction anti-black policies. 

Though Article II, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution declares that the president will deliver information on the state of the Union, it was not until President Woodrow Wilson that it was delivered as a speech before a joint session of Congress.  Prior to that, it was delivered as a letter.

Today, it is mainly used as a pep rally for the president’s programs and proposals with the two parties each playing their part – the president’s party cheering wildly and standing up and sitting down while the other party sits and at times, do the little golf clap. 

Today, the speech is followed by the opposition party’s response.

This refers to voters who vote solely for one party or another without any other consideration for the choice. 

This refers is an unofficial and unscientific poll conducted to measure the trend of opinions of a particular candidate or an issue.  It provides a snapshot but not necessarily accurate. 

The history of suffrage in the U.S. began with landed gentry.  The first expansion of suffrage rights went to landless, white men.  After the Civil War and as part of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, black men received the right to vote.  However, it was not until the Nineteenth Amendment that women were granted the right to vote.  In the late 1960s, calls for 18-year-olds to have the right to vote surfaced.  Ultimately, the Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. 

, a superdelegate (normally a high or influential party member) is able to cast a vote in the nominating process but do not have to declare their intention and do not have to follow the frame of mind of the public. 

A swing voter is one not particularly tied to a party but who, as part of a bloc, represents enough votes to sway an election one way or another. 

Though the country has always been dominated by two parties (most recently and longest-lasting – the Republicans and Democrats), third parties have strongly influenced the

behavior and policy of the

aforementioned major parties.