Editing General election (section)

{{Short description|Election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen}}
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{{Elections}}

A '''general election''' is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=April 7, 2015 |title=What Is a General Election? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/32206370 |access-date=2023-03-29 |newspaper=BBC Newsround}}</ref> They are distinct from [[By-election|by-elections]], which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections typically occur at regular intervals as mandated by a country's constitution or electoral laws, and may include elections for a [[legislature]] and sometimes other positions such as a directly elected president.<ref name=":0" /> In many jurisdictions, general elections can coincide with other electoral events such as [[Local government|local]], [[Region|regional]], or [[Supranational union|supranational elections]]. <ref name="FTPA" />For example, on 25 May 2014, Belgian voters simultaneously elected their national parliament, 21 members of the [[European Parliament]], and regional parliaments.

In [[Politics of the United States|the United States]], "general election" has a slightly different, but related meaning: the ordinary electoral competition following the selection of candidates in the [[Partisan primary|primary election]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}