We are witnessing the unprecentedly nerve-wracking and bizarre presidential election in the States in the year of 2020. This week, let’s go over some election-related expressions that you might have frequently heard on the news.
1.
Race remains too close to call in (a
State): Resulting in too narrow a margin to make a decision.
This expression originates from sports, where call has signified "a
judgment" since the mid-1600s. In the 1960s it began to be applied to
pre-election polls and then to the outcome of elections.
2.
runoff: two-round
system, a voting system used to elect a single winner, whereby only two
candidates from the first round continue to the second round, where one
candidate will win. When an election is too close to call, they decide to have
a runoff.
3.
to tabulate (votes/ ballets): to
count or record votes systematically, putting into tabular form
4.
mail-in ballots: Mail-in
ballots are used more broadly to refer to ballots sent through the mail,
including in all-mail voting states and some forms of absentee voting.
*absentee ballots:
an absentee ballot is
generally used in every state to refer to a ballot filled out by a voter who
cannot, for various reasons, physically make it to a voting location on
Election Day. (military and overseas voters)
5.
to double down on …: to
take a further risk in a situation or passionately re-commit one's efforts to a
cause or course of action.
6.
voter registration: In
the U.S., you need to register to vote to confirm that you are able to vote in
the next election. If you’ve moved, changed your name, or want to update your
political party affiliation, you need to update your voter registration.
7.
Electoral college:
The
United States Electoral College is a name used to describe the official 538
Presidential electors who come together every four years during the
presidential election to give their official votes for President and Vice
President of the United States. The bigger the state’s population, the more “votes”
it gets.
8.
Swing states/ battleground states:
Also
called purple states, are highly competitive states that
have historically swung between voting for different parties in presidential
elections.
9.
Rust Belt States: "Rust
Belt" is a term that refers to an area of the northern United States. The
area is mostly the states near the Great Lakes, and some of them are considered
to be Midwest states, such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana
10. Sun Belt States: SUN
BELT comprises the states of the South and the Southwest. The term was coined
to describe both the warm climate of these regions and the rapid economic and
population growth that have been characteristic since the 1960s. The
region comprises 15 states — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
11. to flip …: If
a state was won by Democrats in 2012, and it's won by Republicans this year,
the state flipped, vice versa.
12. to come down to the wire: It
means the result will not be decided or known until the very end/ or the finishing
line. This term comes from horseracing, where it was long the practice to
stretch a wire across and above the track at the finish line.
13. to win/ lose by a razor-thin margin: to
win or lose by a VERY SMALL MARGIN or VERY SMALL DIFFERENCE
(ó
landslide)
14. demographic shifts of voters:
changing racial or ethnic compositions of voters
15. to
enter the home stretch: When you say “Candidates enter the
home stretch”, you mean “the race is coming to an end”
16. smear campaign: Also
called “mudslinging”, which refers to the act of destroying one’s opponent’s
good name by saying bad things, through misleading ads, or even spreading lies
about them
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