Election Day

American  

noun

1. (in the U.S.) the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November on which national elections are held for electors of the president and vice president in those years evenly divisible by four. On even years constituents elect members of the House of Representatives for two-year terms and one third of the Senate for six-year terms.

2. (often lowercase) any day designated for the election of public officials.

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Etymology

Origin of Election Day

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Plenty of voters ask for absentee ballots closer to Election Day.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The Election Day statutes were enacted to ensure that federal elections occur simultaneously across the country.

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

Washington, D.C. and 13 other states have similar laws to Mississippi in which ballots postmarked on or before Election Day will be counted within a certain period of time after Election Day.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

Morley, who filed a friend of the court brief in this case for neither party, argues that, in the modern day, no one reads the Presidential Election Day act literally.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

Election Day, November 2, 1880, was sunny in Ohio.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow