Referendum vs. Elections: Know the Difference

A vote by the electorate on a specific issue.

A formal process where people vote to choose a person or a group for an official position.

A direct decision-making process by the population on a particular legislative question.

A system through which a population selects representatives or leaders.

A process where citizens vote directly on a particular issue of national or regional importance.

The act of making a choice among alternatives in a democratic setup.

A public vote on a specific policy issue.

The collective decision-making process by voters to fill public offices.

The submission of a proposed public measure or actual statute to a direct popular vote.

An organized event in which members of a group or community choose their leaders or representatives.

Such a vote.

The act or process of electing someone to fill an office or position

A note from a diplomat to the diplomat's government requesting instructions.

An instance of this

(politics) A direct popular vote on a proposed law or constitutional amendment. The adposition on is usually used before the related subject of the vote.

The fact of being elected

An action, choice, etc., which is perceived as passing judgment on another matter.

An act of choosing; a selection

A diplomatic agent's note asking for instructions from his government concerning a particular matter or point.

Predestined salvation, especially as conceived by Calvinists.

The right to approve or reject by popular vote a meassure passed upon by a legislature.

Plural of election

The principle or practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislative body to the body of voters, or electorate, for approval or rejection, as in the Swiss cantons (except Freiburg) and in various local governments in the United States, and also in the local option laws, etc.; also, the right to so approve or reject laws, or the vote by which this is done. Referendum is distinguished from the mandate, or instruction of representatives by the people, from direct government by the people, in which they initiate and make the laws by direct action without representation, and from a plebiscite, or popular vote taken on any measure proposed by a person or body having the initiative but not constituting a representative or constituent body.

A legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate