Glossary

At-large Election -- All voters in a political jurisdiction may vote for candidates for all offices.

Cumulative Voting -- Each voter may vote as many times as there are seats to be filled, and the voter may either give all of his/her votes to one candidate, or distribute them among several candidates.

Limited Voting -- Each voter has fewer votes than the number of seats to be filled.

Predominantly Minority District -- Technically called a majority/minority district. An election district in which a majority of the persons included within the district belong to a particular racial or other minority group.

Preclearance -- A determination by the Attorney General of the United States, or by the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia, that a jurisdiction's proposed voting changes will be non-discriminatory. Jurisdictions covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act are required to preclear planned changes in their voting procedures -- that is, demonstrate, prior to implementation, that the changes do not have the purpose or the effect of discriminating against protected racial or language minorities.

Single Member District Voting -- When a political jurisdiction has been divided into several election districts, voters in each of the created districts may elect a single candidate to represent them.

Vote Dilution -- The minimizing or cancelling out of the voting strength of racial and other minorities. Vote dilution may result from the use of at-large elections, districting plans and/or other electoral structures -- such as majority vote requirements, numbered post provisions or staggered terms.