To elect means to choose someone for a position or office through voting. When citizens elect a president, they cast ballots to decide who will lead their country. When your class elects a representative for student council, everyone votes for the person they think will do the best job.

In many elections, people get a say through their vote, and the person with the most votes wins. Schools elect class officers, organizations elect board members, and democracies elect their leaders.

Someone who has been chosen but hasn't started their position yet is called the president-elect or senator-elect. The word can also describe a group of people chosen for something special: you might call the students selected for an advanced program the elect.

As an adjective, elect means “chosen but not yet in office,” as in mayor-elect. As a noun, the elect means a group of people chosen for something special.