-elect

A candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been installed or officially taken office may be referred to as an officer-elect, with the title of the position being used instead of "officer" (e.g. president-elect). These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor, mayor, and even Pope.

Analogously, the term "designate" (e.g. Prime Minister-designate) is used in systems without direct elections of executive politicians, such as in parliamentary systems.

The naming convention of "-elect" is different from an actual position which incorporates that title, e.g. the position of President-Elect, in some organizations.

Official positions in organizations

The bylaws of some clubs and other organizations may define an official position of President-Elect similar to a Vice President position. The members of the organization elect the President-Elect, rather than directly electing the organization's President. The President-Elect may be given limited duties, similar to a Vice-President. At the end of the term, the President-Elect is promoted to the position of President, and a new President-Elect is elected. The advantage of this schema is a clear continuity of succession, as well as the opportunity to familiarize the President-Elect with the operations of the organization before becoming President. A possible drawback is that once a President-Elect has been elected, another person cannot be elected President unless the President-Elect resigns or is removed from office.

Election

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.

The universal use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens, where the Elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot.

Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results).