Election is a process of selecting someone for public office or accepting or rejecting a political proposition by voting. It is the formal process of democracy in which voters choose their representatives, or hold their leaders accountable by removing them from office if they fail to live up to expectations.
Elections occur at many levels: local, state or province, and national. For example, the United States holds an election for a president every four years. Votes are counted by the electors of the Electoral College, and the winner is the candidate who wins at least 270 of these votes. Most elections are held within specific geographic districts. A city council election for an alderman, for instance, may be restricted to a single ward (election district). Following the US census, these districts are altered to reflect population shifts.
For elections at the local level, a ballot paper includes spaces for the voter to mark their preferences. Voters usually have a choice of one, two, or three candidates. The candidate with the most first preference votes is elected. In the case of a tie, the second preference votes are transferred to other candidates until one receives more than 50 per cent of the total number of first preference votes.
Elections are important because they allow citizens to choose their leaders and hold those leaders accountable by regularly holding them. They also allow a wide discussion of public issues and help educate citizens about those issues.