Campaigns & Elections
| Election Campaign | An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others vying for the same office. |
| Primary Election | An election conducted within a party to choose that party's candidate for an office.. |
| Closed Primary | A primary in which only members of that party may participate. |
| Open Primary | A primary available to any voter. |
| Modified Closed Primary | When individual state parties are allowed to let independents vote (or not). |
| Modified Open Primary | A primary in which independents are entitled to vote. |
| Presidential Primary | An election to choose delegates, who then convene to choose the presidential candidate. |
| Caucus (Convention) | A closed meeting of members of a political party to decide policy and candidates for office. |
| Front-Loading | A state practice of moving primaries and caucuses to earlier in the year to gain attention. |
| General Election | Constitutionally defined as a national election on every even-numbered year's 2nd Tuesday of November. |
| Straight Ticket | Voting for a single party's candidates for all offices. |
| Split Ticket | Voting for more than one party's candidates for various offices. |
| First-Past-the-Post Election | Winner-take-all elections in single-member districts. |
| Open Election | An election lacking an incumbent. |
| Federal Election Commission (FEC) | An independent federal agency monitoring interstate and international communications. |