popular vote

[ pop-yuh-ler voht ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the Electoral College. Compare electoral vote.
the vote for a candidate, issue, etc., made by the qualified voters, as opposed to a vote made by elected representatives.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of popular vote¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

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Compare Meanings

How does popular vote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

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Increased support for Canada's two largest parties has come at the expense of smaller parties, particularly the NDP, whose share of the popular vote is down by around 12 percentage points.

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The Conservatives remain the official opposition party, with a little over 41 percent of the popular vote.

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I have some numbers here: If only people who had voted in 2022 had voted, Harris would have won the popular vote and also the Electoral College fairly easily.

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But if everyone had voted, Trump would have won the popular vote by nearly five points.

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The Liberals and the Conservatives have dominated the popular vote, with both parties receiving more than 40% of ballots counted across Canada so far.

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popular sovereignty populate

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