Template:Election box/doc

These election box templates are for displaying a list of candidates and results for any election. They produce tables like this:

General Election 2005: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
style="background-color: Template:NDP/meta/color; width: 5px;" |	[[NDP|Template:NDP/meta/shortname]]	Tommy C. Douglas	101,549	63.8	+6.20
style="background-color: Template:Progressive Conservative/meta/color; width: 5px;" |	[[Progressive Conservative|Template:Progressive Conservative/meta/shortname]]	Michael Howard	52,201	31.60%	-8.15
Majority			153,700	72.4	+5.42
Turnout			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Registered electors			319,998

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Usage

Basic

There are three basic templates:

• {{Election box begin}}
• {{Election box candidate}}
• {{Election box end}}

The begin and end templates start and end a table with appropriate columns and formatting. The candidate template is used once for each candidate and contributes a row to the table.

When using this template please use the election box end template rather than simply inserting |} at the end of the election box. If you do place the |} it will be detected as an error by syntax-checking bots and will then be placed in the syntax cleanup project queue and will need to be fixed by someone. Having fixed a few hundred already, it is becoming somewhat repetitive.

For example:

 {{Election box begin |title=[[United Kingdom general election, 2005|General Election 2005]]: Strangford}}
 {{Election box candidate
   |party      = Labour
   |candidate  = Tony Blair
   |votes      = 9,999
   |percentage = 50.0
   |change     = +10.0
 }}
 {{Election box candidate
   |party      = Conservative
   |candidate  = Michael Howard
   |votes      = 9,999
   |percentage = 50.0
   |change     = +10.0
 }}
 {{Election box end}}
 

Will create this:

General Election 2005: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tony Blair	9,999	50.0	+10.0
	Conservative	Michael Howard	9,999	50.0	+10.0

Party links

See Template:Election box candidate with party link for usage and set-up.

Majority and turnout

Three further templates:

• {{Election box majority}}
• {{Election box turnout}}
• {{Election box registered electors}}

can be added to record the majority, turnout and number of registered electors for an election. (In this context, "majority" refers to the winning margin between the first and second placed candidates.)

For example:

 ...
 {{Election box majority
   |votes      = 9,999
   |percentage = 50.0
   |change     = +10.0
 }}
 {{Election box turnout
   |votes      = 9,999
   |percentage = 50.0
   |change     = +10.0
 }}
 {{Election box registered electors|
   |reg. electors = 19,998
 }}
 {{Election box end}}
 

Will create this:

General Election 2005: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tony Blair	9,999	50.0	+10.0
	Conservative	Michael Howard	9,999	50.0	+10.0
Majority			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Turnout			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Registered electors			19,998

Election outcome

Finally there are two templates:

• {{Election box hold with party link}}
• {{Election box gain with party link}}

that can be used to summarize the outcome of an election, in terms of whether the incumbent holds the seat or whether it is lost to another party.

For example:

 ...
 {{Election box hold with party link
   |winner     = Labour Party (UK)
   |swing      = +10.0
 }}

 or...

 {{Election box gain with party link
   |winner     = Conservative Party (UK)
   |loser      = Labour Party (UK)
   |swing      = +10.0
 }}
 {{Election box end}}
 

Will create this:

General Election 2005: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tony Blair	9,999	50.0	+10.0
	Conservative	Michael Howard	9,999	50.0	+10.0
Majority			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Turnout			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Registered electors			19,998
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.0

or this...

General Election 2005: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tony Blair	9,999	50.0	+10.0
	Conservative	Michael Howard	9,999	50.0	+10.0
Majority			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Turnout			9,999	50.0	+10.0
Registered electors			19,998
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+10.0

Notes:

• The swing parameter represents Peter Snow's Swingometer measure, i.e. the percentage change (or swing) in the vote since the last election.
• When preparing the tables in advance of an election, it may be convenient to include these two templates but commented out (using <!-- and --> ) until the outcome is known.
• Potentially there is a need for versions of these templates that do not have the party link mechanism. However, it can be argued that any party that has a successful candidate deserves an article about them and the full /meta/color treatment. The one obvious exception to this is, of course, independent candidates, who won't actually have a party. If / when there's a need, just create a non party link version of these templates.

List of templates

Election box begin

• {{Election box begin}}
• {{Election box begin no change}}
• {{Election box begin no party}}
• {{Election box begin no party no change}}
• {{Election box inline begin}}
• {{Election box inline begin no change}}

Election box candidate

Standard

• {{Election box candidate}}
• {{Election box candidate for alliance}}
• {{Election box candidate minor party}}
• {{Election box candidate no party link no change}}
• {{Election box candidate with party link}}
• {{Election box candidate with party link coalition 1918}} - for coalition coupon candidates in 1918 UK general election.
• {{Election box candidate with party link no change}}

Winning

• {{Election box winning candidate with party link}}
• {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change}}

Inline

• {{Election box inline candidate}}
• {{Election box inline candidate no change}}
• {{Election box inline candidate with party link}}
• {{Election box inline candidate with party link no change}}
• {{Election box inline incumbent}}

Election summary

For parties without an article on Wikipedia.

• {{Election summary}}
• {{Election summary begin}}
• {{Election summary party}}

Election box gain/hold/loss etc

• {{Election box gain}}
• {{Election box gain with party link}}
• {{Election box hold with party link}}
• {{Election box hold with party link no swing}}
• {{Election box void}}
• {{Election box new seat win}}

Election box majority

• {{Election box majority}}
• {{Election box majority no change}}
• {{Election box majority no party}}
• {{Election box majority no party no change}}
• {{Election box margin of victory}}

• {{Election box metadata}}

Election box turnout

• {{Election box turnout}}
• {{Election box turnout no change}}
• {{Election box turnout no change with votes}}
• {{Election box turnout no party}}

Election box total and related

• {{Election box registered electors}}

• {{Election box rejected}}
• {{Election box total}}
• {{Election box total valid}}
• {{Election box total no change}}
• {{Election box formal}}
• {{Election box informal}}

Election box end

• {{Election box inline end}}
• {{Election box end}}
• {{End}}

Blanks by country

• United Kingdom
• United States

Extensions

• Template:Election FPTP begin As 1, but includes an additional column for expenditures. Example
• Template:Election box begin for list As 1, but better suited to list-based multi-member constituencies. Example
• Template:Election box candidate for alliance As 3, with an additional "side" party. Example

See also

• Template:Compact election box A more compact box for first-past-the-post elections