election Look up election at Dictionary.com
late 13c., from Anglo-Fr. eleccioun, from L. electionem, from stem of eligere "pick out, select," from ex- "out" + -ligere, comb. form of legere "to choose, read" (see lecture). Electioneer first attested 1789 in writing of Thomas Jefferson (probably on model of auctioneer, as the verb engineer was not yet in use).