23. to be in the majority to form the largest group быть в большинстве: The number of women on the committee has grown steadily and now they are in the majority.
24. to be in the / a minority to form less than half of a group быть в меньшинстве: Women are in the minority in the top ranks of government. | Even in the 1960s, politically active students and academics were in a minority.
25. minority party a political party that has a minority of seats in a parliament партия меньшинства: The administration's minority party has put off the decision. | The presence of minority parties would also engender a diversity of opinions and ethnic backgrounds.
26. minority government [ countable ] a government that does not have enough politicians in a parliament to control parliament and take decisions without the support of other parties правительство меньшинства: The following day Labour formed a minority government under Michael Field.
27. landslide (victory) | sweeping victory [ countable; usually singular ] a victory in an election in which one person or party gets a lot more votes than their opponents убедительная / полная / крупная / безоговорочная победа на выборах: The newspapers were predicting a landslide (victory) / sweeping victory for Thatcher. | Few people expected Labour's landslide victory in 1945.
(to win sth / to elect sb) by / in a landslide: He won the presidential election by a landslide. | He was re-elected by a landslide. | He was elected mayor in a landslide last May.
to win / achieve / gain / score / pull off (informal) a landslide (victory): Her party won a landslide victory in the 1990 general election. | The party scored a landslide victory, winning 159 seats. | The Labour Leader won a landslide.
28. ballot (paper) [ countable ] a piece of paper on which you record your vote избирательный бюллетень: In Ireland some voters would find the ballot paper confusing.
on the ballot в избирательном бюллетене: Voters also heavily endorsed a clause on the ballot paper calling for the convening of a constituent assembly to reform the Constitution.
to put one's name on the ballot внести чье-л. имя в избирательный бюллетень: They succeeded in putting Perot's name on the ballot in Florida.
to cast a ballot (for sb / sth) опускать / бросать избирательный бюллетень; подавать / отдавать голос: Only 22% of voters cast their ballots. | One-third of working-class voters have traditionally cast their ballots for Conservative candidates.
to count ballots считать / подсчитывать голоса избирателей: Election boards will count the ballots by hand.
spoiled ballot papers ballot papers that have been marked incorrectly and so cannot be counted недействительные избирательные бюллетени
29. absentee ballot [ countable ] (AmE) a piece of paper which voters who are unable to be present at an election can vote on and send in by post открепительный талон, бюллетень для заочного голосования / отсутствующих избирателей: He has already voted by absentee ballot. | You can also get an absentee ballot within three days if your application is received before October 28.
30. ballot box [ countable ] a box in which you put your ballot paper after you have voted избирательная урна, баллотировочный ящик: Another ballot box was available at the central library.
31. the ballot box [ singular ] the democratic system of voting демократическая система голосования / принятия решений: No society which believes in democratic values can allow the ballot box to be overridden by the bomb and the bullet.
through / at / by means of the ballot box: The voters have expressed their views through / at the ballot box. | And the people have changed several governments through the ballot box. | The issue will be decided at the ballot box. | Like everyone else, they will be able to pass judgment by means of the ballot box.
32. the polls [ plural ] | polling station (esp. BrE) | polling place (AmE) [ countable ] the place where people go to vote in an election избирательный пункт, помещение для голосования: The polls open at 7 a.m. | The polls will close in an hour. | Voters have been flocking to the polls to elect a new president. | Security was tight at the polling stations.
33. polling booth (esp. BrE) | voting booth (esp. AmE) [ countable ] a small partly enclosed space in a polling station where you can vote secretly in an election кабина для голосования: We cannot expect voters to leave their conscience behind them when they go to the polling booth. | In every state help is available for people in the voting booth.
Electioneering
1. to campaign [ intransitive ] | to canvass [ intransitive; transitive ] to try to persuade people to support a political party, politician, plan etc by going to see them and talking to them, especially when you want them to vote for you in an election проводить избирательную кампанию, агитировать (за кого-л. / политическую партию), вербовать сторонников перед выборами: The party has been campaigning hard in the North. | She was canvassing in the Greenside area of town yesterday.
to campaign / canvass for / on behalf of sb // for sth: I wish to thank all my helpers who have campaigned for / on behalf of me / our party during the past few months. | I have to thank all my helpers who canvassed for me and helped me to win this election. | He is canvassing for the Conservative candidate. | He spent the rest of May canvassing for votes.
to canvass sb / sth: We'll have to canvass voters / the entire area before the election / referendum. | The USA is canvassing support from other Asian states.
2. to campaign | to crusade | to agitate [ intransitive ] to try to achieve political or social change by persuading other people or the government to do something проводить кампанию / участвовать в кампании за что-л. / против чего-л., бороться за что-л. / против чего-л., агитировать (за что-л. / против чего-л.)
to campaign / crusade / agitate for (doing) sth: Women campaigned / crusaded for equal pay and equal rights throughout the 1960s. | More people are agitating for social change / social justice / better conditions.
to campaign / crusade / agitate against (doing) sth: She campaigned / crusaded against sex and violence on television. | He agitated against the Vietnam war.
to campaign / crusade to do sth: The liberals campaigned / crusaded to expand the power of government / to change the law.
3. to contest | to fight (formal) [ transitive ] to compete for something or to try to win it бороться на выборах / за место (в парламенте)
to contest / fight an election (campaign) участвовать в выборах; бороться на выборах: A total of 406 candidates contested the election and a 72 percent turnout was registered. | He unsuccessfully fought the next three elections.
to contest / fight a seat (on a council / in parliament) бороться за место (в парламенте): His wife is contesting a seat on the council. | He subsequently fought and held his parliamentary seat against his former party.
contested election / seat выборы, в которых участвуют несколько кандидатов; напряженные выборы; место, за которое борются несколько кандидатов: No one there expected a contested election. | The opposition party won 392 of 485 contested seats.
4. agitation [ uncountable; countable ] a public argument or action for social or political change агитация, агитационная кампания
agitation for / against sth: mass agitation for / against political reform / social reform / civil rights / political rights / greater democracy
to carry on (an) agitation: Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.
5. electioneering [ uncountable ] things that candidates or political parties say and do in order to persuade people to vote for them in an election, often things that do not seem sincere or fair предвыборная агитация / кампания: genuine / crude electioneering | Modern electioneering is sophisticated and highly organized. | The second example of electioneering is aimed at youthful voters. | Critics have dismissed his visit to a shelter for the homeless as an obvious piece of electioneering.
6. the hustings [ plural ] the political meetings, speeches, etc. that take place in the period before an election предвыборная агитация / кампания
on / at the hustings: Most candidates will be out on the hustings this week. | The senator is usually at his best on the hustings. | But it is unlikely to happen at the hustings or in the run-up to the election. | With only days to go before elections in Pakistan, candidates are battling it out at the hustings.
7. the run-up to sth the period of time just before an important event; the preparation for this преддверие; подготовительный период; подготовительная работа: When a canvasser called during the election run-up, he decided to rejoin. | The prime minister's spin doctors paid great attention to women's magazines during the run-up to the poll. | The company believes the products will sell well in the run-up to Christmas. | Everyone is very busy during the run-up to publication.
in / during the run-up to the election в преддверии выборов: The issue of the monarchy is complicating politics in the run-up to the elections. | In the run-up to the November 1992 presidential elections, education was seen as a key issue. | The three are fighting over control of the provincial assemblies, which will be important in the run-up to the election.
8. (election / electoral) campaign [ countable ] a series of actions that a politician or political party does to try to win an election выборная / предвыборная / избирательная кампания: The endless public appearances are an inevitable part of an election campaign. | In all more than 1,000 people were arrested during the electoral campaign.
active / vigorous / whirlwind campaign активная / бурная (избирательная) кампания
feeble / weak campaign пассивная (избирательная) кампания
national / nationwide campaign общенациональная кампания
to plan a campaign планировать / готовить кампанию: Richards and his team have already started planning his campaign for election as party leader.
to launch / mount / organize / start a campaign начать / открыть / развернуть / организовать кампанию: Republicans accused the Democrats of launching a smear campaign. | The Labour Party mounted a smear campaign against Livingstone before the election.
to conduct / fight / run / wage / carry on a campaign проводить кампанию: The prime minister is conducting an impressive campaign. | Mr Kinnock fought a good campaign. | Jesse Jackson ran a quixotic campaign against Michael Dukakis in 1988. | Buchanan has waged a vigorous Arizona campaign.
the campaign gets off to a good // bad start кампания начинается хорошо // плохо
the campaign fizzles out the campaign gradually comes to a stop, especially because people have become less interested кампания терпит неудачу / проваливается / сходит на нет
presidential campaign | campaign for president / the presidency избирательная кампания по выборам президента: He ran a lacklustre campaign for president in the 1992 primaries.
9. race [ countable; usually singular ] a situation in which one group of people competes with another, especially for political power избирательная кампания; борьба, конкуренция; гонка, погоня