What does electoral mean?
"Electoral" is an adjective describing anything connected with elections or the act of voting. It appears most often before nouns in political and journalistic writing: an electoral campaign, an electoral defeat, an electoral map, or an electoral college all refer to features of how citizens vote and how those votes are counted and translated into results. The word carries no strong emotional connotation of its own; its tone is formal and procedural, which makes it a staple of news reporting, political science, and legal discussion. Its most famous fixed pairing is "electoral college," the body that formally elects the US president, but it also combines readily with words like reform, system, fraud, and district. Because elections are central to democratic life, "electoral" is an essential term for anyone reading about politics, and understanding it helps distinguish discussions about the mechanics of voting from debates about policies or candidates themselves.
Relating to elections or to the process of voting.
"The government proposed changes to the country's electoral laws."
Almost always used attributively, placed directly before the noun it modifies.
Relating to an elector or a body of electors.
"The candidate secured enough electoral votes to win the presidency."
The US Electoral College never meets as one body — its members gather in their own state capitals on a single December day to cast the votes that actually choose the president.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of electoral
"Electoral" derives ultimately from the Latin verb "eligere," meaning "to pick out" or "to choose," whose past participle "ēlectus" gives us "elect." The word entered English via the noun "elector" (from Latin "ēlector"), with "electoral" formed by adding the adjectival suffix "-al." Its earliest uses in English date to around the early seventeenth century, initially tied to the Holy Roman Empire's prince-electors who chose the emperor. Closely related forms include "election," "elective," and "electorate," all built on the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How electoral is actually used
"Electoral" is a neutral-to-formal word found chiefly in political and news contexts. It almost always appears attributively (before a noun), as in "electoral law" or "electoral victory." It is rarely used predicatively.
Easily confused with electoral
"Electorate" is a noun meaning the body of people entitled to vote, while "electoral" is an adjective describing things relating to elections.