Context

Israel will go for snap elections in April 2019. Earlier this year, in India, Telangana state has gone for snap elections for the state legislative assembly.

About

A snap election is an election called earlier than expected.

• Generally it refers to an election in a parliamentary system called when it is not required either by law or convention, usually to capitalize on a unique electoral opportunity or to decide a pressing issue. It differs from a recall election in that it is initiated by politicians (usually the head of government or ruling party) rather than voters, and from a by-election in that the winners will serve an entire term as opposed to the remainder of an already established term.
• Since the power to call snap elections usually lies with the incumbent, they usually result in increased majorities for the party already in power having been called at an advantageous time. However, snap elections can also backfire on the incumbent and resulting in a decreased majority or even the opposition winning or gaining power. As a result of the latter cases there have been occasions in which the consequences have been the implementation of fixed term elections.