electoral
- 1Of or relating to elections, or to the process of voting for candidates or measures.
Investigators found no evidence of electoral fraud in the disputed districts.
The party's electoral strategy focused on winning suburban voters in a handful of swing states.
Note
The everyday sense shows up in its collocations: electoral success, electoral fraud, electoral reform. Rashmee Roshan Lall wrote in 2016 of the Austrian Freedom Party's "startling electoral success". Because the adjective is not comparable, degree goes on the noun or into an adverb. You can write a greater electoral success, or more successful electorally, but never more electoral.
- 2Relating to electors, or consisting of a body of electors appointed or entitled to cast votes.
The candidate lost the electoral count when several of the state's electors broke with the popular vote.
In the Holy Roman Empire, the electoral body that chose each new emperor consisted of seven princes.
Note
Built directly from elector plus -al, this sense keeps its eye on the people who hold the vote rather than on the act of voting. It is the meaning behind fixed phrases such as electoral college and electoral vote, and behind historical uses like the electoral body of princes who chose each emperor. Unlike the broader election sense, it always implies a defined set of voters.
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Origin
Formed from "elector" combined with the suffix "-al".