Every time I turn on the TV these days all I seem to hear about is the controversial US election. With it just around the corner I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at vocabulary used to talk about elections in America. As a Brit (British person) I’m not actually used to using a lot of these terms, so this has actually been a good opportunity for me to study the vocab.

 

 

The first 3 words we are going to look at are all connected to colours. The colours red, blue and purple.

Red States

A red state is an American state which is  Republican. Wyoming is an example of a red state.

Blue States

Blue states are Democratic state. Hawaii would be described as a Blue state.

Purple States/ Swing States

Purple states, also known as swing states, are states that have similar numbers of Republican and Democratic voters and that could easily be won by either party. Florida is a clear example of a swing state and is often seen as an important place to campaign in.

 

Polls/Opinion Polls

Generally referred to as polls are when a sample of a population is asked a series of questions to find out what general population think about something or try and gauge how they are going to vote.

At the moment polls suggest Biden is doing better than Trump. However, we should never trust polls. Polls before the Brexit suggested voters would choose to remain.

 

Running Mate

This is the presidential candidate’s choice for vice-president. For example, Biden’s running mate is Kamala Harris.

 

Ballot

A piece of paper that voters put who they want to vote for on.

You can say, I am going to cast my ballot for Biden.

 

Voter turnout

Percentage of people who are eligible to vote who actually cast their ballot in the elections.

It is said that the voter turnout in the USA is between 50 and 60 %