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run-off election

/ˈrənˌɔf ɪˈlɛkʃən/
IPA guide

Other forms: run-off elections

A run-off election is a second round of voting between the two candidates who got the most votes the first time. If there are 17 people running for mayor, there will probably be a run-off election!

In some elections, a candidate has to get over 50 percent of the votes, not just the highest number of votes. In many cases, especially when there are multiple candidates, this means the people who come in first and second place will face each other in a run-off election. The first political use of the word run-off or runoff was to mean "deciding a race after a tie."

Definitions of run-off election
  1. noun
    a final vote held after the original political race did not have a clear winner
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