Local election

In most countries local elections take place to elect people in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". The way these elections are done varies.

In some places the mayor is elected by votes of all the people in the area. Those directly elected mayors often have a lot of power. In other places the councillors choose one of them to be the mayor, often for just a year.

The elections of councillors generally happen every three or four years. Sometimes all the councillors are elected at the same time. In other places some of them are elected each year. There may be more than one council covering an area, with some very local and others covering a wider area. The rules about who can vote and how the votes are counted may be different.

There may be separate elections for organisations running particular services, like the Water board.

Political parties often are involved in the elections, but in the most local elections there are more independent politicians than there are in national elections.