Election vocabulary

To elect: verb, to choose someone or something you like.
Aphirak Kosayothin was elected as Bangkok Governor last year.

Elector: noun, a person who has the right to vote in an election.
Nobody knows for whom the Bangkok electors will vote in the coming election.

Electorate, constituency, seat: noun, the geographical area that is represented by the person or persons elected by those who vote in the election.
Trang is one of the most interesting electorates in Thailand.

Constituent: noun, a person who lives in the constituency and is able to vote in an election.
Most candidiates try to visit their constituents as often as possible.

Election: noun, the choosing or selection of the candidates by vote.
Thai Rak Thai Party won a landslide in last election.

Campaign: noun or verb, a series of planned activities by a person in order to persuade people to vote for him/her
Many political campaigns are just promises that can never be fulfilled.

Campaign trail: the places candidates go to as they campaign.
On the campaign trail he promised big money for basic infrastructure in all the remote villages.

Electoral roll: a list of people who have a right to vote.
Children under eighteen years of age are not on the electoral roll and thus cannot vote.

Poll: noun, a survey in which people are asked their opinions about something. This can have the same meaning as election.
Many polls indicated that the Labour Party would lose many seats in the north.

Exit poll: a survey in which voters who have just voted and left the polling booth are asked who they voted for.
According to the exit poll, The Republican is leading.

Polling booth: the place in which voters cast their vote.
Policemen and members of the election watchdog group are on duty at every polling booth.

To vote: verb, to choose someone or something.
People under eighteen years old are not allowed to vote.

To cast a vote: to vote
In a democracy, it is everybody's duty to cast a vote in an election.

To vote for: verb, to support a person or political party during an election. The opposite is to vote against.
Seventy per cent of the people in this constituency voted for theDemocrat candidate.

To vote informally: to vote wrongly, therefore making your vote invalid.
You must mark your ballot with a cross only, otherwise you may be voting informally.

A Vote: noun, a choice made by a particular person or group in a meeting or election.
Do not think that only one single vote can't change anything because every vote counts.

Vote-buying: when a candidate offers money or other items in exchange for a vote for him only
In Thailand, vote-buying is usually massive on the eve of the election day.

Traditional voters: people who always vote for the same people or party in every election.
It is not a surprise that the Democrats gain a majority of seats in the south because most of the southerners are traditional voters.

Protest vote: to vote against a person as a way of protesting.
The candidate from the ruling party was defeated by a protest vote; many people believed he used dirty tricks against a female candidate from the other party.

Undecided/swinging voters: people who change their votes from election to election (the opposite of traditional voters)
The undecided voters will determine the result of this election.

Candidate: noun, a person who is being considered for a position or election.
The female candidate in this constituency is a newcomer in politics and has already gained high popularity.

Poll Watch: an organisation which examines elections to make sure there is no corruption or cheating
Poll Watch has been working hard to ensure a clean election.

To run in/for: to register in order to be a candidate
The former village headman ran in as a candidate in his hometown.

To stand for: to apply to be candidate
Supachai decided to stand for the Democrats.

Parliament: noun, a group of elected and/or appointed people who meet at a particular place to make or change the laws of the country. The word can also refer to the place where the MPs and Senators meet.
The Parliament will pass the amended human rights law next week.

MP (Member of Parliament): an elected candidate
The opposition MPs walked out of the Parliament session twice in March.

House of Representatives (Lower House): a group of elected candidates that consists of Members of Parliament.
An irregular session of the House of Representatives was urgently scheduled to discuss measures to stop the violence in the South.

Senate (Upper House) and Senator: the ruling body of the electoral system that is charged with monitoring and checking the government. The people in the Senate are called senators.
The Senators disagreed with the government's attempt to amend the Constitution.

Prime Minister: the head of the government
The Prime Minister appointed an independent body to solve the bird-flu crisis.

Coalition: political parties who come together for the purpose of combining their power
The rift in the coalition government was caused by a conflict of interest in forming the Cabinet.

Opposition: the political parties who did not win enough seats to form a government
The Opposition is planning measures to check the performance of the government.

Leader: the head of a political party
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is also the Thai Rak Thai party leader.

Faction: a group within a party
It is a difficult task for a party leader to keep every faction happy.