What is the difference between general election and by-elections?

Answer 1

A general election is when all of the seats in the House of Commons come up for grabs. A by-election takes place in one constituency if its MP dies or resigns in between the general elections.

Answer 2

A general election is an election in which all (or at least the overwhelming majority) of seats to a body, usually a legislature, are elected simultaneously or over a very short period of time. For example, on May 6th 2010, the UK held a parliamentary general election - it was a general election because all 650 members of the House of Commons were up for election at once.

In contrast, a by-election takes place when only a small number - usually just one - seat to a body is up for election. By-elections are held to fill vacancies that arise because of the death, resignation, imprisonment or forced removal of a person from public office; whilst multiple by-elections can take place at the same time, they are individual events, and several by-elections do not make a general election. Members elected at a by-election can usually only serve until the next general election, when they must submit themselves for re-election like everyone else.

Answer 3

A general election takes place when every elected seat in a body - for example, a chamber of a legislature - is up for election at once, simultaneously, in the same election period, though not necessarily on the same day. For example, on May 6 2010, the United Kingdom held a general election when all 650 of its Members of Parliament were elected at once.

In contrast, a by-election is held to fill an arising vacancy on a body. If a member dies, resigns or is expelled from a legislative body, in most jurisdictions, a by-election is held to replace that person with a new member, who serves until the next general election. Even if multiple by-elections take place at once, they do not constitute a general election, though they usually occur only in small groups or on their own. For example, in the UK, by-elections will be held to fill three vacancies in the House of Commons on November 15 2012.

An example of a large number of by-elections being held together outside of a general election would be the Burmese by-elections of April 1 2012, when 46 seats (out of 664) were elected at once as the result of vacancies in the Assembly of the Union.

Answer 4

In the US local would be city/town elections and general would be state or federal elections.