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byelection
DCHP-2 (Oct 2012)
Spelling variants:by-election
n. — Politics
an election held between regularly scheduled general elections, to fill a position that has become vacant during the term of office.
Type: 5. Frequency — Common in many English-speaking countries (see Chart 2 for one spelling variant), by-elections have been part of the Canadian political landscape since the 19th century. The form byelection has far greater currency in Canada than elsewhere (see Chart 1). Today, however, by-election is still more widely used than the Canadian innovation byelection.
See also Gage-1, s.v. "by-election", ITP Nelson, s.v. "by-election", and OED-3, s.v. "by-election", W-3, s.v. "by-election", AHD-5, s.v. "by-election".
See also Gage-1, s.v. "by-election", ITP Nelson, s.v. "by-election", and OED-3, s.v. "by-election", W-3, s.v. "by-election", AHD-5, s.v. "by-election".
The spelling bye-election is prevalent in Ireland (103 Frequency Index points), followed by New Zealand (43 points); Canada has a very low score of not even 7 points (23 Jan. 2016).
Quotations
1899
And this accounts for the fact that the electorate of this country [...] show him their gratitude at each by-election [...]
1915
The writ for the bye-election in Prince Albert was issued to-night. Nomination day is fixed for February 1, and the Government expects that there will be no opposition to the Government candidate, George Balter, Mayor of Prince Albert.
1971
As there is no way of completing the recount, the Liberals are naturally hoping a by-election will reverse the October result, and one will probably be held in January.
1997
[...] Dick Steeves, a former town mayor, was the only person to put his name forward in a byelection.
2008
She was first elected in a 1999 by-election after winning the Liberal nomination to fill the seat left vacant following the death of MLA Fred Gingell.
References
- Gage-1
- ITP Nelson
- OED-3
- W-3
- AHD-5
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 6 Dec. 2012
