At Élections Québec, we know the electoral process inside and out. We love to share our knowledge on the topic, because we’re passionate about elections. In recent months, we’ve been collaborating with another passionate organization: the Office québécois de la langue française. What have we been working on? A glossary (in French only) to help you understand the finer points of elections!
By combining the expertise of both organizations, we have succeeded in defining no fewer than 130 terms that regularly appear in our documents. These terms relate to various aspects of electoral administration, including:
- places (electoral division, polling place, polling station)
- materials used by electors (ballot, polling booth, ballot box)
- people involved in elections (official agent, candidate, returning officer, official representative, deputy returning officer, third party)
- key moments in an election (election campaign, revision of the list of electors, counting of the votes, official addition of the votes)
- political financing (political contribution, electoral expense, corrupt electoral practice)
- voting modes (mobile poll, advance poll, postal vote)
The glossary, which we have posted on our website, will help you understand our documents while revealing the subtleties of words used to describe the democratic process. The glossary is also available on the website of the Office québécois de la langue française and it has been integrated into the Grand dictionnaire terminologique along with the corresponding English terms, in both cases. So many options for improving your election-related vocabulary!
