Definition
A regular election is a scheduled, recurring election held at fixed intervals established by constitution, statute, or charter. It stands in contrast to a special election, which is called outside the normal electoral calendar to fill a vacancy or address an urgent matter.
In most contexts, regular election is used interchangeably with general election — a statewide or jurisdiction-wide vote held on a date set in advance by law, typically in even-numbered years for federal offices and on cycles prescribed by state law for state and local offices. The term emphasizes the scheduled, predictable nature of the electoral event rather than its scope or the offices at stake.
Some state constitutions and statutes use "regular election" to refer specifically to the election at which a given office is ordinarily filled as a matter of course — distinguishing a routine filling of a seat from an appointment or special election to fill an unexpired term.
Common Confusion
Regular election and general election are frequently treated as synonyms, and for most research purposes they function as such. The distinction, when courts have drawn it, is one of emphasis: general election describes the breadth of participation (statewide, jurisdiction-wide), while regular election describes the periodicity (occurring on a fixed, recurring schedule). In practice, the same event is both. Researchers should not assume that a source using one term to the exclusion of the other is signaling a meaningful legal difference unless context clearly supports that reading.
Regular election should not be confused with primary election. A primary is a preliminary process for selecting party nominees and, while often held on a fixed schedule, is generally not termed a "regular election" in the sense that determines final electoral outcomes or triggers constitutional provisions about filling vacancies.
Why It Matters in Research
The phrase "regular election" appears frequently in constitutional provisions, statutes, and charter documents governing vacancy-filling procedures, term lengths, and the timing of ballot measures. When a statute says an officer "shall be elected at the next regular election," the definition of that term becomes dispositive — particularly where a vacancy arises shortly before or after a scheduled election date.
Historical sources, including older state constitutional provisions and nineteenth-century case law, use regular and general interchangeably without signaling any intended distinction. Researchers working with pre-twentieth-century materials should not read technical differentiation into the choice of term.
The term also appears in election administration contexts governing voter registration deadlines, filing deadlines for candidates, and the scheduling of initiative and referendum votes. In these settings, what qualifies as a "regular election" for triggering or satisfying a deadline can be a contested question — particularly for municipal and special district elections that may operate on off-cycle schedules.
In Tax Court procedure, the term "regular" serves a completely distinct function, distinguishing the standard case track from the small tax case (S case) procedure. This usage is unrelated to election law and is addressed in the Tax Encyclopedia entries noted below.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary defines regular election as "a general, usual, or stated election," adding that the terms regular and general "are used interchangeably and synonymously" when applied to elections, and that "regular" carries a statewide reference. The citation Black's provides (45 Mo. 47) reflects mid-nineteenth-century Missouri case law, consistent with the period when state courts were working out the relationship between constitutional language and electoral administration.
The historical definition is reliable as far as it goes but thin. It does not address the vacancy-filling context that generates most modern litigation over the term's meaning, nor does it account for municipal and special district elections that operate outside the traditional statewide calendar. Researchers should treat the Black's synthesis as a starting point, not a complete account.
Jurisdictional Note
What counts as a "regular election" varies by state constitution and statute. Some states define the term explicitly; others leave it to judicial construction. Municipal charters may define regular elections for local purposes in ways that diverge from state-level usage. Researchers working on vacancy-filling or ballot-measure timing questions should locate the controlling definition in the applicable jurisdiction's organic law rather than relying on a general definition.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Election Administration, Voting Technology, and Post-Election Disputes (The Law Mind Administrative Law & Government Encyclopedia) — admin_157
Tax Court Regular vs Small Cases (The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia) — tax_147 / tax_183 [distinct usage; see entry for Tax Court procedure context]