As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) "Ballot card" means the tabulating or punch card upon which an elector records his or her vote by the use of a vote recorder. "Ballot card" also means a ballot upon which an elector records his or her vote for tabulation by an optical scan tabulating machine.

(2) "Ballot labels" means the cards, paper, or other material placed on the front of a voting machine or vote recorder containing the names of offices and candidates and statements of questions to be voted on.

(3) "Call" or "the call," as used in relation to special elections or special primaries, means the affirmative action taken by the responsible public officer to cause a special election or special primary to be held. The date of the call shall be the date of the first publication in a newspaper of appropriate circulation of such affirmative action.

(4) "Custodian" means the person charged with the duty of testing and preparing the voting machine or vote recorder for the primary or election and with instructing the poll officers in the use of same.

(5) "Election" means any general or special election and shall not include a primary.

(6) "Election district" is synonymous with the terms "precinct" and "voting precinct."

(7) "Elector" means any person who shall possess all of the qualifications for voting now or hereafter prescribed by the laws of this state, including applicable charter provisions, and shall have registered in accordance with this chapter.

(8) "General election" means an election recurring at stated intervals fixed by law or by the respective municipal charters; and the words "general primary" mean a primary recurring at stated intervals fixed by law or by the respective municipal charters.

(9) "Governing authority" means the governing authority of a municipality.

(10) "Independent" means a person unaffiliated with any political party or body and includes candidates in a special election for a partisan office for which there has not been a prior special primary.

(11) "Managers" means the chief manager and the assistant managers required to conduct primaries and elections in any precinct in accordance with this chapter.

(12) "Municipal office" means every municipal office to which persons can be elected by a vote of the electors under the laws of this state and the respective municipal charters.

(13) "Municipality" means an incorporated municipality. (14) "Nomination" means the selection, in accordance with this chapter, of a candidate for a public office authorized to be voted for at an election.

(15) "November election" means the general election held on the Tuesday next following the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year.

(16) "Numbered list of voters" means one or more sheets of uniform size containing consecutively numbered blank spaces for the insertion of voters' names at the time of and in the order of receiving their ballots or number slips governing admissions to the voting machines.

(17) "Oath" shall include affirmation.

(18) "Official ballot" means a paper ballot which is furnished by the superintendent or governing authority in accordance with Code Section 21-2-280, including ballots read by optical scanning tabulators.

(19) "Official ballot label" means a ballot label prepared in accordance with Article 9 of this chapter and delivered by the superintendent to the poll officers in accordance with Code Sections 21-2-328 and 21-2-360.

(20) "Paper ballot" or "ballot" means the forms described in Article 8 of this chapter. The term "paper ballot" shall not include a ballot card.

(21) "Party nomination" means the selection by a political party, in accordance with this chapter, of a candidate for a public office authorized to be voted for at an election.

(22) "Plurality" means the receiving by one candidate alone of the highest number of votes cast for eligible candidates in an election among the candidates for the same office, provided that such number of votes exceeds 45 percent of the total number of votes cast in such election for such office. In the case where two or more persons tie in receiving the highest number of votes or no candidate receives more than 45 percent of the total votes cast for eligible candidates in the election for the office sought there is no plurality.

(23) "Political body" or "body" means any political organization other than a political party.

(24) "Political organization" means an affiliation of electors organized for the purpose of influencing or controlling the policies and conduct of government through the nomination of candidates for public office and, if possible, the election of its candidates to public office, except that the term "political organization" shall not include a "subversive organization" as defined in Part 2 of Article 1 of Chapter 11 of Title 16, the "Sedition and Subversive Activities Act of 1953."

(25) "Political party" or "party" means any political organization which at the preceding:

(A) Gubernatorial election nominated a candidate for Governor and whose candidate for Governor at such election polled at least 20 percent of the total vote cast in the state for Governor; or

(B) Presidential election nominated a candidate for President of the United States and whose candidates for presidential electors at such election polled at least 20 percent of the total vote cast in the nation for that office.

(26) "Poll officers" means the chief manager, assistant managers, and clerks required to conduct primaries and elections in any precinct in accordance with this chapter.

(27) "Polling place" means the room provided in each precinct for voting at a primary or election.

(28) "Precinct" is synonymous with the term "voting precinct" and means a geographical area, established in accordance with this chapter, within which all electors vote at one polling place.

(29) "Primary" means any election held for the purpose of electing party officers or nominating candidates for public offices to be voted for at an election.

(30) "Public office" means every federal, state, county, and municipal office to which persons can be elected by a vote of the electors under the laws of this state or the respective municipal charters, except that the term shall not include the office of soil and water conservation district supervisor.

(31) "Question" means a brief statement of such constitutional amendment, charter amendment, or other proposition as shall be submitted to a popular vote at any election.

(32) "Residence" means domicile.

(33) "Special election" means an election that arises from some exigency or special need outside the usual routine.

(34) "Special primary" means a primary that arises from some exigency or special need outside the usual routine.

(35) "Superintendent" means:

(A) Either the judge of the probate court of a county or the county board of elections, the county board of elections and registration, the joint city-county board of elections, or the joint city-county board of elections and registration, if a county has such;

(B) In the case of a municipal primary, the municipal executive committee of the political party holding the primary within a municipality or its agent or, if none, the county executive committee of the political party or its agent;

(C) In the case of a nonpartisan municipal primary, the person appointed by the proper municipal executive committee; and

(D) In the case of a municipal election, the person appointed by the governing authority pursuant to the authority granted in Code Section 21-2-70.

(36) "Swear" shall include affirm.

(37) "Tabulating machine" means any data processing machine used in counting ballot cards and tabulating votes thereon.

(38) "Vote recorder" means a device into which a ballot card may be inserted so that an elector may record his or her vote for any candidate and for or against any question by punching or marking the ballot card.

(39) "Voter" is synonymous with the term "elector."

(40) "Voting machine" shall not include a vote recorder or tabulating machine.

(41) "Write-in ballot" means the paper or other material on which a vote is cast for persons whose names do not appear on the official ballot or ballot labels.