Direct election

Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the electoral system used. The most commonly used systems are the plurality system and the two-round system for single-winner elections, such as a presidential election, and party-list proportional representation for the election of a legislature.

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Examples of directly elected bodies are the European Parliament (since 1979) and the United States House of Representatives. The MPs (members of parliament), MLAs (members of the legislature), and members of the local bodies are elected by direct election.

By contrast, in an indirect election, the voters elect a body which in turn elects the officeholder in question.

In a double direct election, the elected representative serves on two councils, typically a lower-tier municipality and an upper-tier regional district or municipality.