Difference Between Elected and Selected

Key Difference – Elected vs Selected
 

The key difference between elected and selected is the elected usually refers to choosing someone from a voting system while selected refers to choosing something or someone on a general basis.

The verbs select and elect both convey the meaning ‘to choose something or someone for a particular purpose or to pick up something from a list of choices’. Thus, we can use both these verbs as synonyms. However, the usage of these two verbs differs based on the context.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What Does Elected Mean
3. What Does Selected Mean
4. Side by Side Comparison – Elected vs Selected in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What Does Elected Mean?

Elected is the past tense of the verb ‘elect‘. Oxford Dictionary defines elect as ‘to decide on or choose, especially to choose a person for a particular job by voting.’  

Elect basically refers to the selection made upon voting. Thus, it has a political interpretation to it, unlike select. An elected person is someone who will represent the choice of a group of people through the process voting. Hence, election plays a vital role in the administration of a country.

Figure 01: People’s votes help to elect the ruling party of a country.

Consider the given sentences that use the verb elected:

• The new Minister who was elected by the provincial election won the hearts of the people in a short period of time.
• The teacher advised every student to cast their vote to elect the class Monitor.
• Many political critics commented the recent social upheaval is an attempt to bring down the elected government.
• The aggravating economic problems and taxation made the public to reconsider the politicians they elected.

What Does Selected Mean?

Selected is the past tense of the verb select. Select basically means to choose a particular something from a collection. Oxford Dictionary defines the meaning of select as ‘to choose a small number of things, or to choose by making careful decisions’.

We all make selections after deciding as to who or what is the most suitable out of the whole lot. Frequently, select defines a choice made by an individual.

Figure 02: He selected one option out of the many available options.

Observe the given sentences using the verb selected:

• Among the set of varied options given, she selected the hardest one.
• Even though he was good in English, he selected French as his Major in the University.
• The Editor selected the crime story as the feature story on the front page.

Although the verb select usually convey an individual’s choice, there are occasions where select conveys a choice of a group or a set of people. Look at the following example sentence,

• The committee selected Theresa to be the next President of the Past Pupils Association.

What is the Difference Between Elected and Selected?

Summary – Elected vs Selected

Many people tend to use the verbs elect and select interchangeably. Even though they both convey the meaning of making a choice, the verb elect has a political basis, which emphasizes on choosing based on a vote whereas select does not. Therefore, we can highlight this as the key difference between elected and selected.

Image Courtesy:

1. “68953” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “3088438” (CC0) via Pixabay

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