title: Popular election
text: # Popular election
  
  Popular election or popular vote may refer to:
  
  * Any election in a democracy
  * An election taking place under universal suffrage
  * Direct election, an election in which people vote directly for the candidate that they want
  * Popular vote, in an indirect election, is the total number of votes received in the first-phase election, as opposed to the votes cast by those elected to take part in the final election
     * In United States presidential elections it connotes the total number or percentage of votes cast for a candidate by voters in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., as distinguished from the electoral college vote which decides the outcome. See also the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
  * Referendum, or plebiscite, a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular proposal
  * Straw poll, an ad hoc or unofficial vote
  * Popularity contest, pejorative
  