Editing Writ of election (section)

{{Short description|Official writ calling for an election}}
{{EngvarB|date = February 2019}}
{{Redirect|Dropping the writ|the Cass McCombs album|Dropping the Writ}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
[[File:D. Christopher Jessen, Deputy Provost Marshall, to Freeholders of Lunenburg Township and County - election writ for the second assembly.png|thumb|Election writ issued by the provost marshal to freeholders of [[Lunenburg, Nova Scotia]], 1759]]

A '''writ of election''' is a [[writ]] issued ordering the holding of an election. In [[Commonwealth countries]] writs are the usual mechanism by which [[general election]]s are called and are issued by the [[head of state]] or their representative. In the United States, writs are more commonly used to call [[special election]]s for political offices.

In some countries, especially in [[Canada]],<ref name="CBC News">Haydn Watters, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/writ-drop-drawn-federal-election-1.5258112 "Many writs, no 'dropping': What the election call actually means"], ''CBC News'', September 11, 2019</ref> the process of issuing writs of election is referred to as "'''dropping the writ'''",<ref name="Bhatia2010"/> likely derived from the phrase "drawing up [[the writ]]".<ref name ="Statutes of the Province of Manitoba" />

In some [[parliamentary system]]s, the [[head of government]] (e.g. prime minister or premier) [[Advice (constitutional law)|advises]] the head of state to issue writs of election (typically following the [[dissolution of parliament]] in order to hold general elections, but also for by-elections). The head of state usually reserves the right to refuse the request, in which case the head of government is required by [[Constitutional convention (political custom)|convention]] or statute to resign. For example, in the case of a [[minority government]], the head of state can deny the request for dissolution and ask the leader of another parliamentary party to form a government.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=David |title=Surrogates for the Sovereign: Constitutional Heads of State in the Commonwealth |date=18 June 1991 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-11565-5 |pages=264–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuSuCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>As happened in the Canadian King–Byng Affair: {{Cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Jeffery |title=Byng of Vimy: General and Governor General |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1992 |page=305 |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-436-57110-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/byngofvimygenera0000will/page/305}}</ref> In some cases, such as with the [[president of Ireland]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Farrell |first1=David M. |last2=Hardiman |first2=Niamh |title=The Oxford Handbook of Irish Politics |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-882383-4 |page=372 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCg7EAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> there are specific limitations on when a head of state can refuse the request. Even then, the right is rarely exercised, as it is likely to precipitate a [[constitutional crisis]] (see, for example, the Canadian [[King–Byng Affair]] of 1926).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Forsey |first1=Eugene A. |last2=Tattrie |first2=Jon |author1-link=Eugene Forsey |title=King-Byng Affair |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/king-byng-affair |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |access-date=23 January 2023 |date=July 30, 2013}}</ref>