Voting Terminology

ICYDK, there are a lot of voting terms out there that aren’t exactly all that easy to understand - but super essential to being able to effectively cast your ballot. That’s where we come in. We’ve partnered with Hollister to give you every voting term you need to know, crammed - so Gen Z can Show Up for 2020 and make history. 
​

Absentee Ballot vs Mail-In Voting
An absentee ballot is for anyone who is, well, absentee. In other words: not able to make the election. In most elections, you need to give a reason to request an absentee ballot before dropping it off or mailing it in, but due to COVID-19, at least 35 states have changed the rules to let you request an absentee ballot without an excuse. Some states are also changing the rules to just straight-up send everyyyy registered voter an absentee ballot or form to request one. That’s mail-in voting. 

Electoral College vs Popular Vote
The Electoral College is the foundation of voting in the United States. No, really. There are 538 electors in the US, with each state having the same number of electors as it does members in Congress. (So that’d be one for each member in the House of Reps, plus two members of the Senate.) When you vote for a presidential candidate, you’re actually voting to decide where your state’s electors go. And, hint: most states have a “winner take all” system that gives alllll the electors to whichever presidential candidate takes the popular vote. Speaking of which - the popular vote is literally just the total tally of votes. A presidential candidate can win the popular vote (aka get more votes), but lose the electoral college. The nationwide popular vote doesn’t count for anything, so whatever candidate wins at least 270 electors (more than half) gets to become prez. But don’t confuse that with the idea that your vote doesn’t matter - trust us, it still totally does. Voting gives you a say in which candidate your electors go towards for presidential elections. And for most other kinds of elections (see below), the popular vote does win out. 

Congressional Election vs Presidential Election
When you head to the polls this year, you’re not just voting for prez and vice prez (aka a presidential election) - you’re also voting for local leaders and policies (aka a congressional election). Presidential elections, like this one, take place every four years, but congressional elections take place every two years. Meaning they fall on a presidential election year half the time (the other half of the time, they fall on midterm election year). A key difference: congressional elections are decided by the popular vote - not the electoral college. 

House of Representatives vs Senate vs Governor 
These are some of the people you’re voting for in a congressional election. Members of the US House of Reps (known as representatives) serve two-year terms and rep a specific part of their state (known as a Congressional District - find yours over here). Right now, there are 435 members of the House of Reps, but the number of reps in each state completely depends on the state’s population. Then there’s the Senate. Every state gets exactly two members of the Senate (known as senators), which means there are 100 senators total. Senators serve six-year terms and rep a whole entire state (find yours over here). Unlike the House of Reps, where all 435 members go through the election process every two years, only one-third of senators get elected during each midterm and presidential election year. Even more exclusive than the Senate is the governorship. Every state has a grand total of one governor who is kind of like the prez for that state. Governors serve either four terms or two terms, depending on the state. 

Swing States
Political preferences tend to be pretty regional. Think: New York is majority-Democrat, while Alabama is majority-Republican. But there are a few key states that sway to the left one election...and to the right another. These are known as swing states, and basically everyone watches them during election season.  Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin are all usually swing states. It’s typically impossible for a presidential candidate to win an election without snagging at least some (if not most) of these swing states. 

Provisional Ballot
A provisional ballot is used to mark any voter who could potentially not be totally eligible to vote, usually because of something like not having proper identification or a misspelled name. You can still vote by provisional ballot - it’ll just be filed away so people can double check it’s legit before it counts in the total tally of votes.

Postmarked vs Received
This applies to any part of the voting process that’s being done over mail (from registering to vote to casting your absentee ballot). And it’s a key thing to understand to make sure you meet deadlines. Postmarked means the date that a piece of mail falls into the Postal Service’s hands. Received means the date that a piece of mail is, you know, received by whoever it’s going to (in this case, the gov). It’s a pretty big (and important) difference to be aware of.  And, heads up: every state has different rules on whether your absentee ballot needs to be postmarked or received. (Head on over here for alllll those deadlines.)

Voter Suppression 
Any kind of action taken to keep people from voting in an attempt to influence the outcome of an election. It’s totally illegal, but that doesn’t stop people from trying to suppress votes in sneaky, legal ways. There are two main things to watch out for. One: some areas have fewer polling locations than others, so lines can get super long at the locations that are open. Remember: if you’re standing in line at your polling place, don’t leave until you’ve cast your ballot. Two: if you’re voting by mail, don’t forget to sign the ballot envelope - and make sure it matches the signature that’s on record with the elections office. Otherwise, your vote could be trashed.