Definition
A general election is an election held on a regularly scheduled basis in which voters choose among candidates for offices that belong to the general governmental structure — federal, state, or territorial — as opposed to elections limited to a particular locality or municipality. The term carries two related but distinct meanings in American legal usage:
1. An election for officers of the general government — federal or state — as distinguished from a local or municipal election held only within the bounds of a city, county, or special district.
2. An election held at the expiration of a full term of office to fill that office for the next regular term, as distinguished from a special election called to fill a vacancy arising before the term's natural end.
Both meanings can apply simultaneously: a regularly scheduled statewide election is a general election under both definitions. The distinction matters most when a court or statute must determine what type of electoral proceeding governs a particular situation.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): An election, usually held at regular intervals, in which candidates are elected in all or most constituencies or electoral districts of a nation.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not separately defined; subsumed under the ordinary meaning of "election" as a collective act of choosing by vote.
The common understanding tracks the legal meaning more closely than many legal terms do, but it misses the formal distinction between the two legal definitions. Ordinary speakers use "general election" to mean the big election held on a fixed schedule — which corresponds primarily to legal definition (2). Legal usage also cares about definition (1): whether the office is part of the general governmental framework at all, a question that has real consequences when statutes specify different procedures for general versus local elections.
Common Confusion
General election is frequently contrasted with, and occasionally confused with, three distinct concepts:
Special election: Called outside the regular schedule to fill a vacancy before a term expires. The critical distinction is timing and cause — a general election is scheduled and term-driven; a special election is reactive and vacancy-driven.
Primary election: A preliminary election within a party to select candidates who will then compete in the general election. A primary is not a general election, though it may be conducted by the same governmental machinery on a similar schedule.
Municipal or local election: An election confined to officers of a city, county, or district. Under legal definition (1), this is explicitly not a general election. Some jurisdictions schedule local elections to coincide with general elections on the same day, which can cause confusion in statutes or cases that distinguish the two by type rather than by date.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encounter GENERAL ELECTION most often in three contexts: constitutional provisions specifying when officers must be chosen, statutes governing ballot access or electoral procedure, and contested-election litigation where the classification of an election determines which procedural rules apply.
The two-definition structure is the primary trap. A historical case or statute using "general election" may be invoking definition (1) — asking whether the office is a state office versus a local one — while a modern reader instinctively applies definition (2), asking whether this was a scheduled versus a special election. Misreading which definition is operative can distort the meaning of an entire opinion or statutory provision.
Jurisdictional variation compounds this. Some state constitutions use "general election" in provisions governing the timing of judicial appointments, legislative sessions, or ballot initiatives. The operative definition in those provisions is fixed by that state's constitutional history, not by a uniform national standard.
In historical sources, Rapalje & Lawrence's framing — "election for State officers, as distinguished from an election for municipal officers" — reflects a period when the state/local axis was the dominant legal concern. As electoral law developed through the twentieth century, the scheduled/special axis became equally prominent. Researchers working in pre-twentieth-century materials should be alert to which axis the source is using.
The Law Mind corpus connects this term most directly to election administration materials, where the classification of an election as general or special determines filing deadlines, notice requirements, candidate qualification windows, and recount procedures. A researcher who misclassifies an election in a historical dispute may be looking for governing rules in entirely the wrong body of law.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary captures both definitions in sequence and treats them as coordinate meanings rather than a primary/secondary hierarchy. This is accurate and practically useful: courts and statutes deploy both without consistently privileging one. Black's also preserves the contrast with special elections, identifying the full-term/vacancy distinction explicitly.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary aligns closely with Black's, adding the federal dimension — "general government, either federal or state" — which anchors definition (1) to the constitutional structure of dual sovereignty. Bouvier's citation to a California case reflects the active litigation over these classifications in the late nineteenth century.
Rapalje & Lawrence is narrower and less complete. It presents only definition (1) — state versus municipal — and does not address the scheduled/special distinction at all. For researchers relying on Rapalje & Lawrence, the absence of definition (2) is a genuine gap that could mislead if the source is treated as comprehensive.
None of the three historical dictionaries address the mechanics of primary elections or runoff elections, both of which postdate or were marginal to the classical dictionary period. Modern researchers working on primary election law or runoff procedures should not expect the historical dictionaries to provide useful direct guidance.
Jurisdictional Note
State constitutions frequently define or implicitly limit the term "general election" in ways that deviate from the common law dictionary definitions. Some states fix a single statewide general election date by constitutional provision; others permit the legislature to define which elections qualify. Federal election law (particularly the Uniform Congressional Election Date statutes) operates on its own definition that may not match a given state's constitutional usage.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Election Administration, Voting Technology, and Post-Election Disputes (The Law Mind Administrative Law & Government Encyclopedia) — primary reference for procedural rules, classification disputes, and contested election doctrine.