popular vote

[pop-yuh-ler voht]

noun

1. the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the Electoral College.

2. the vote for a candidate, issue, etc., made by the qualified voters, as opposed to a vote made by elected representatives.

Word History and Origins

Origin of popular vote¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

In Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa—hailed by supporters as a war hero for helping end a decadeslong civil war—won re-election with nearly 60% of the popular vote.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There was no direct popular vote.

Read more on BBC

Gore won the popular vote by nearly 544,000 votes but Bush won the electoral college vote 271-266 in a deeply contentious election that reached the U.S.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

By November, Harris had clawed her way back to a near-draw, leading in most surveys and losing the popular vote by only 1.5 percentage points — and even less in swing states.

Read more on Salon

Sheinbaum also muscled across the finish line one of his most controversial undertakings: an overhaul of the judicial system that mandates judges be elected by popular vote.

Read more on Los Angeles Times