How votes turn into seats — and what is lost on the way.
Practise this list
From these 35 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
The twenty-seventh entry is la privazione del diritto di voto, five words for something English names in one. Italian has no single noun for the right to vote: it says il diritto di voto and builds everything on top of that. English has « the franchise », and a reader meeting it in a political text is unlikely to guess what it is doing there, because the word is better known from shop fronts. Both senses are alive and they never touch. « The franchise » in politics is the right to vote, held by a class of people rather than granted to one person, as in « the extension of the franchise » or « a property franchise ». From it come the two verbs this entry needs, « to enfranchise » and « to disenfranchise », and the second is exactly what the Italian describes. The other « franchise » is commercial, the licence to trade under somebody else’s name, and for that one Italian borrows from English instead: il franchising. So the sense a learner already knows is the one that will not help here.
The words
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Phrase (30)
collegio elettoralethe constituencyPhraseC2
Il collegio elettorale è stato ridisegnato prima del voto.The constituency was redrawn before the vote.
liste elettoralithe electoral registerPhraseC2
Chi cambia residenza finisce in altre liste elettorali.Whoever moves house ends up on a different electoral register.
elettorato passivothe right to stand for electionPhraseC2
Per il senato l’elettorato passivo comincia più tardi.For the senate the right to stand for election begins later.
scheda elettoralethe ballot paperPhraseC2
La scheda elettorale porta il timbro del seggio.The ballot paper carries the stamp of the polling station.
seggio elettoralethe polling stationPhraseC2
Il seggio elettorale è in una scuola.The polling station is in a school.
presidente di seggiothe presiding officerPhraseC2
Il presidente di seggio firma il verbale.The presiding officer signs the record.
affluenza alle urnethe turnoutPhraseC2
L’affluenza alle urne è stata più bassa in campagna.The turnout was lower in the countryside.
soglia di sbarramentothe electoral thresholdPhraseC2
La soglia di sbarramento tiene fuori i partiti piccoli.The electoral threshold keeps the small parties out.
sistema proporzionaleproportional representationPhraseC2
Il sistema proporzionale riproduce le minoranze in aula.Proportional representation reproduces the minorities in the chamber.
sistema maggioritariothe majoritarian systemPhraseC2
Nel sistema maggioritario vince chi arriva primo.Under the majoritarian system the one who comes first wins.
seggio di listathe list seatPhraseC2
Il seggio di lista va al candidato meglio piazzato.The list seat goes to the better placed candidate.
seggio uninominalethe single-member seatPhraseC2
Ha vinto il seggio uninominale per pochi voti.She won the single-member seat by a few votes.
seggio in eccedenzathe overhang seatPhraseC2
Il seggio in eccedenza nasce dal confronto tra i due voti.The overhang seat arises from the comparison between the two votes.
commissione per i collegithe boundary commissionPhraseC2
La commissione per i collegi propone i nuovi confini.The boundary commission proposes the new borders.
voto per corrispondenzathe postal votePhraseC2
Chi vive all’estero usa il voto per corrispondenza.Whoever lives abroad uses the postal vote.
voto segretothe secret ballotPhraseC2
Il voto segreto protegge chi lavora per il datore sbagliato.The secret ballot protects the person who works for the wrong employer.
scheda nullathe spoilt ballot paperPhraseC2
Un segno in più rende la scheda nulla.One mark too many makes the ballot paper spoilt.