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 (figures are just examples; they are not meant to work mathematically):

2005 general election: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Smith	101,549	63.8	+6.2
	Labour	Jane Johnson	52,201	31.6	-8.2
Majority			153,700	72.4	+5.4
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=[[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]]: 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:

2005 general election: 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:

2005 general election: 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:

2005 general election: 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...

2005 general election: 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

1. REDIRECT Template:List of election box templates

• From a page move: This is a redirect from a page that has been moved (renamed). This page was kept as a redirect to avoid breaking links, both internal and external, that may have been made to the old page name.

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