Election

In politics, an election is a formal collective decision-making process by which a population selects a person or a group of people to serve in a public office.

Since the 17th century, elections have been the most common method by which contemporary representative democracy has been able to function. Elections may be held to fill positions in the legislature, as well as in the executive and judicial branches, as well as for positions in regional and municipal government. This procedure is also utilised in a wide variety of different private and commercial organisations, ranging from clubs to voluntary organisations and companies.

Today's representative democracies universally use elections as a tool for selecting representatives, a practise that is in stark contrast to the practise in ancient Athens, the archetypal democratic society, where elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political views were filled through sortition, also known as allotment, a method in which office holders were chosen by lot.

Electoral reform refers to the process of putting in place fair electoral systems in places where they are not already in place, or of enhancing the fairness and efficacy of existing systems in places where they are. Psephology is the study of election outcomes and other statistics that are related to them (especially with a view to predicting future results). The act of electing or being elected is referred to as election.

The term "elect" refers to the act of selecting or making a choice; thus, other types of ballots, such as referendums, are often referred to as elections, particularly in the United States.