American Usage
In U.S. politics, general elections occur every four years and include the presidential election. Some parallels can be drawn between the general election in parliamentary systems and the biennial elections determining all House seats, although there is no analogue to "calling early elections" in the U.S., and the members of the elected U.S. Senate face elections of only one-third at a time at two year intervals including during a general election.
In the State of Louisiana the expression general election means the runoff election which occurs between the two highest candidates as determined by the jungle primary.
Read more about this topic: General Election
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