Meaning of paper candidate | Babel Free

Definitions

An election candidate with little chance of winning, who runs a minimal or no campaign, and who is added to the ballot for publicity, to increase the number of candidates standing and/or try to ensure their party has a candidate in every electoral district.

Equivalents

Examples

“Mr. Kent. I never knew of any actual Democratic opponent to a Republican candidate for Congress in Philadelphia for a number of years, but there may have been some "paper candidate" set up.”

“One Labour candidate in a safe seat believed that his Liberal Democrat opponent was nothing but a ‘paper candidate’, while the Conservatives’ candidate in Scotland reported that his local party had been asked ‘not to canvass but to send people to key seats’; the opposition parties did likewise and were ‘almost nowhere to be seen’.”

“The concern is that groups, including advocacy groups, could register as parties simply by fielding a paper candidate and complying with reporting requirements.”

“A contest appears inevitable, even if he is running against a paper candidate such as Lynne Jones, and the chancellor has put in the groundwork necessary to mount a spirited and successful campaign.”

CEFR level