popular vote

[ pop-yuh-ler voht ]

noun

1. the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the Electoral College. Compare electoral vote.
2. the vote for a candidate, issue, etc., made by the qualified voters, as opposed to a vote made by elected representatives.

Word History and Origins

Origin of popular vote¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

After claiming a mandate from his first-ever popular vote win — about half of Hillary Clinton’s margin in 2016, when she lost — President-elect Donald Trump immediately went out and demonstrated his hubris, the 78-year-old Republican selecting people to lead the country’s most important institutions based largely on their personal loyalty and on-air presence.

From Salon

It was a slightly stronger Electoral College win than Biden’s in 2020, though Biden won the popular vote by 4.4 points with 81 million votes.

From Slate

“Winning the popular vote provides a mandate and a national public confidence to accomplish what he wants to do from the Oval Office,” longtime Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said a couple of days after the election.

From Slate

That comes from a CNN story in which Trump is described as “having a much different mentality than he did in 2017 and feeling like his popular vote win gives him a mandate as he speaks with world leaders, top aides and allies, business CEOs and his transition team.”

From Slate

If the winner’s popular vote and Electoral College margins were above the subjective Mandate Line, then we are to suppose he has the public’s blessing to do whatever he wants.

From Slate