Ballotpedia:Index of Terms

A Quick Overview | About | Community | Copyright | Media information | Policies | StatisticsIndex of contents | Index of terms For a full list of terms and definitions, click here.

This page is an editing tool for writers on Ballotpedia. It highlights format standards, key terms and definitions used throughout the site. If you have any questions, please e-mail editor@ballotpedia.org.

• Elections
• Congress
• SEO
• State legislatures
• Ballot measures
• Recall
• Redistricting
• Interstate compacts
• Other

Coming soon

• Absentee ballot
• Ballot
• Ballot box stuffing
• Canvassing
• Caucus
• Closed primary
• Polling location
• Precinct
• Open primary

...more terms available here

Key Congressional terms:

United States Congress • United States Senate • United States House of Representatives • Super PAC • Federal Election Commission • Congressional district • Bicameralism • 501(c)(3) • 501(c)(4) • Federal government ...more here

Elections

Ballotpedia's first elections coverage began in 2012

• There are 3 top-level pages: United States Congress elections, 2012, United States Senate elections, 2012 and United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
• There are 33 pages about U.S. Senate elections, with this format: [[United States Senate elections in STATE, 2012]]
• There are 50 pages about U.S. House elections, with this format: [[United States House of Representatives elections in STATE, 2012]]
• There are 435 pages about Congressional district elections, with this format: [[STATE's NUMBER congressional district elections, 2012]]

Key SEO terms

State executive offices

Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney general • Treasurer • Controller • Auditor • Superintendent of Schools • Insurance Commissioner • Agriculture Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Services Commissioner

State offices

• If you are writing about specific state offices (like the Governor of Kentucky), there are three state executive positions that are written as "Office of State."

1. Governor of State
2. Lieutenant Governor of State
3. Attorney General of State

• The rest of the executive positions use a "State Office" format (like the Rhode Island Director of Labor) but the specific titles vary from state to state. We've created a chart that links to every office for every state.

Analysis pages to link to

• Compensation of state executive officers

Key state legislative terms:

State legislature • Upper house • Lower house • Unicameral

Leadership positions:

State Speaker of the House • State House Speaker Pro Tempore • State House Majority Floor Leader • State House Assistant Majority Floor Leader • State House Majority Whip • State House Majority Caucus Leader • State House Majority Caucus Secretary • State House Minority Floor Leader • State House Assistant Minority Floor Leader • State House Minority Whip • State House Minority Caucus Leader • State House Minority Caucus Vice Chair • State House Minority Caucus Secretary • State Senate President Pro Tempore • State Senate Majority Floor Leader • State Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader • State Senate Majority Caucus Leader • State Senate Majority Whip • State Senate Minority Floor Leader • State Senate Assistant Minority Floor Leader • State Senate Minority Caucus Leader •

Key ballot measure terms:

Advisory question • Approved for circulation • Ballot • Ballot access • Ballot initiative • Ballot measure • Bond issue • Citizen referendum • Constitutional amendment • Democracy • Direct Initiative • Direct democracy • Distribution requirement • Electronic petition signature • Fiscal impact statement • Forged signature • Fraudulent signature • Indirect initiated constitutional amendment • Indirect initiated state statute • Indirect initiative • Indirect initiative statute • Initiated constitutional amendment • Initiated state statute • Initiative and referendum • Initiative proponents • Legislative referral • Legislatively-referred bond measure • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment • Legislatively-referred state statute • Out-of-state circulator • Petition • Petition drive • Recall • Referendum • Residency requirements for petition circulators • Statute • Statute referendum • Valid signature • Veto referendum...more here

State ballot measures

• By Year - an aggregate of ballot measures that appeared on the ballot by year - follow the format of [[YEAR ballot measures]] such as 2011 ballot measures. A list of all ballot years can be found here.

...2014 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000...

• By State & Year pages - an aggregate of ballot measures that appeared on the ballot on a particular year and in a particular state - follow the format of [[STATE YEAR ballot measures]] such as Washington 2009 ballot measures.
• By State with all Ballot Years - pages by state with lists of all years in which ballot measures were featured - follow the format of [[List of STATE ballot measures]] such as List of Montana ballot measures.
  • A list of all ballot measures by state can be found here.
• By Topic - ballot measures sorted by various political topics.
  • A list of political topics can be found here.

Local ballot measures

• By Year - an aggregate of that appeared on ballots by year - follow the format [[Local ballot measure elections in YEAR]] such as Local ballot measure elections in 2010.
  • A list of all ballot years can be found here.
• By Election Date - a collection of ballot measures articles organized by election date - follow the format [[Category:ELECTION DATE local ballot measure elections]] such as Category:March 1, 2011 local ballot measure elections.
• By State - hub pages that reflect election dates, recent news and other related links - follow the format [[Local ballot measures, STATE]] such as Local ballot measures, Illinois.
  • A list of all local measures by state can be found here.
• By State and Election Date - pages that show local measures by state and by election date - follow the format [[ELECTION DATE ballot measures in STATE]] such as July 12, 2011 ballot measures in Wisconsin.
• By Topic - pages that organize ballot measures by political topic - follow the format [[Category:Political issues addressed in local STATE ballot measures]] such as Category:Political issues addressed in local Louisiana ballot measures.
  • A list of local measure political topics can be found here.

Ballot measure law

• Law Changes By Year - pages that reveal proposed, approved and defeated laws relating to ballot measure law - follow the format [[Changes in YEAR to laws governing ballot measures]] such as Changes in 2011 to laws governing ballot measures.
  • A list of such articles can be found here.
• Lawsuits By Year - articles that provide a list of lawsuits relating to ballot measure law and ballot measures by state and year - follow the format [[:Category:Ballot measure lawsuits, YEAR]] such as Category:Ballot measure lawsuits, 2010.
  • A list of such articles can be found here.
• Laws By State - articles that direct readers to various direct democracy law articles - follow the format [[Laws governing ballot measures in STATE]] such as Laws governing ballot measures in Alaska.
  • A list of articles relating to laws governing ballot measures (by state) can be found here.
• Initiative Laws By State - articles that specifically relate to initiative and referendum laws - follow the format [[Laws governing the initiative process in STATE]] such as Laws governing the initiative process in Arkansas.
  • A list of articles can be found here.

• Laws By State - a collection of articles that outline the recall laws for specific states. Only 38 states have provisions allowing recall - they follow the format [[Laws governing recall in STATE]], for example Laws governing recall in Alaska.
  • A list of recall law pages can be found here.
• By State - this includes a list of pages that arrange the recall articles by state - they follow the format [[Recall campaigns in STATE]], such as Recall campaigns in Alaska.
  • A list of recall efforts by state can be found here.
• By Year - an aggregate for recall articles by year - follows the format [[Political recall efforts, YEAR]] such as Political recall efforts, 2011
  • A list of recall efforts by year can be found here.
• By Type - this is a collection of recall efforts arranged by the political office that the recall targets (e.g. county council, state legislator, etc.) - these follow the format [[OFFICENAME recalls]] such as Sheriff recalls
  • A list of efforts by type of office targeted can be found here.

All 50 state redistricting pages follow the format of: [[Redistricting in STATE]] such as Redistricting in California There are also feature pages in redistricting such as:

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• State-by-state redistricting procedures
• Redistricting lawsuits relating to the 2010 Census
• Partisan balance of redistricting committees in 2011
• Redistricting activist organizations
• Redistricting Roundup
• Status of redistricting maps after the 2010 census

• Articles about interstate compacts are titled according to the formal interstate compact name. (example: Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact)
• Categories: each article features the relevant state categories and topic categories.
  • Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact includes the following categories:
    • [[Category:Interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Agriculture interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Industry regulation interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Connecticut interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Maine interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Massachusetts interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:New Hampshire interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Rhode Island interstate compacts]]
    • [[Category:Vermont interstate compacts]]

Coming soon

• 501(c)(3)
• 501(c)(4)

Wiki terms

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