Editing General election (section)

== United States ==
{{Main|Elections in the United States}}

In U.S. politics, general elections are elections held at any level (e.g. city, county, congressional district, state) that typically involve competition between at least two parties. General elections occur every two to six years (depending on the positions being filled, with most positions good for four years) and include the presidential election.{{cn|date=March 2024}} "General election" does not refer to [[By-election|special elections]], which fill out positions prematurely vacated by the previous office holder.<ref>{{Cite web |title=general election |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/general_election |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref>

Major general elections are as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Congressional elections and midterm elections {{!}} USAGov |url=https://www.usa.gov/midterm-elections |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.usa.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidential general election {{!}} USAGov |url=https://www.usa.gov/presidential-general-election |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.usa.gov |language=en}}</ref> 

# The President and Vice President are elected once every four years (2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, etc.)
# Representatives in the House of Representatives serve two-year terms, and so there are elections for representatives every two years (midterm elections, and during the same year as the Presidency: 2020, 2022, 2024, 2026, etc.){{Failed verification|reason=The source for congressional and midterm elections does not mention general elections.|date=March 2024}}
# Senators serve six-year terms, but their terms are staggered. Throughout the US, a third of the senate will be up for election every midterm and during the Presidential election year.{{Failed verification|reason=The source for congressional and midterm elections does not mention general elections.|date=March 2024}}

The term ''general election'' is distinguished from primaries or caucuses, which are intra-party elections meant to select a party's official candidate for a particular race. Thus, if a primary is meant to elect a party's candidate for the position-in-question, a general election is meant to elect who occupies the position itself.{{cn|date=March 2024}} Presidential [[Partisan primary|primaries]] happen several months before the general election, though [[Caucus#In the United States|not all states hold primaries]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidential primaries and caucuses {{!}} USAGov |url=https://www.usa.gov/primaries-caucuses |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.usa.gov |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Louisiana]] the expression ''general election'' means the [[runoff election]] which occurs between the two highest candidates as determined by the [[Nonpartisan blanket primary|jungle primary]].<ref>Chapter 5 of the [http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/louisiana/la-laws/louisiana_revised_statutes_18-401 ''Louisiana Election Code''], incorporating Section 18:401 of the ''Louisiana Revised Statutes''.</ref>{{failed verification|reason=The source mentions general elections, but does not define them.|date=March 2024}}

=== See also ===
* [[Writ of election]]