The election chart is the test of an astrologer's skill.  It enables an experienced professional to give the kind of advice about "when" to do something that helps a client make the most out of their choices.

It isn't easy and even some pros have difficulty doing it well.

If you want to get a dandy election chart, the first thing to remember is that the moon is your friend.  Your best friend, in fact.

Its phase and its position and its aspects decide all the future action and that's a lot of influence.  Without its help, no election does very well.

Choose the right lunar phase for what you want to do. That rule is fairly simple but it is often overlooked.

The waxing phase is for things that grow and expand.  The waning phase is for things that shrink and endure.  You want the moon in a good sign, a strong house if possible and making good aspects.  The moon is good above the horizon at night, and below by day.

A few gardening examples may help, since those are some of the simplest elections we can do.  We plant vegetables with the parts we eat that grow above the ground-beans, tomatoes, corn, etc.-in the waxing phase.

Things we eat that grow beneath the ground -potatoes, beets, carrots, onions-get the waning phase.

Annual flowers, which don't depend on good roots, should be planted during the waxing phase.  You want all the bloom you can get this year since there won't be a next year for those particular plants. Perennials, shrubs or trees, where we want deep strong roots so the plants can endure and come up again next season, get the waning phase.

Marriages and business, which we hope will bloom and improve, should also have a waxing moon in their charts.  Digging the foundation for a new house, where you want endurance and tight seals, should get a waning phase.

You don't want to start a diet with the waxing phase.  You're swimming upstream on that one.  You don't want to launch a hot air balloon during the waning phase.  (Shrink?  Oh, no…one hopes not.)

The moon's speed is also a concern.  For the best results in a waxing phase, it helps to use a day when the moon is moving quickly.  The reverse is true for the waning phase.

The next rule is that the planet which naturally rules the matter in question should be in good shape in the chart.  Retrograde is a no-no.

Venus, for instance, deals with marriage, beauty and money.  Mars deals with surgery, sex and sports.  If you want to open a bank, make an investment, form a partnership (marriage or any other kind) you want Venus on your side.  That means in its own sign, or house and getting good aspects.

And whether you choose to get a wart removed or sign a deal to play pro football, it's important to have a good Mars in the pattern.  Same thing-good sign, good house, good aspects.

Real estate comes under Saturn.  Cars are the concern of Mercury and Jupiter deals with travel.  When in doubt as to what rules the matter at hand, use a traditional planet.  The outer planets are seldom good unless the matter almost certainly is in their department.  If you aren't sure what the ruler of the event should be, check with a good rulership book.  Bills Rulership Book is often helpful here.

Establishing a recycling center would be specifically Plutonian. Digging an oil well would involve Neptune.  And getting new electrical wiring in your house?  Uranus, obviously.  But when in doubt, use an old ruler and you won't go wrong.

It doesn't do any good to come up with an otherwise apparently great travel chart if Jupiter is retrograde, in Virgo and in the 6th  house squaring Uranus and opposing Mars.   You may say, "But I have a great Venus in the chart."  That won't get you where you want to go.  It's like having a sweet travel agent for your trip on the Titanic.

For travel, the planet you want to fortify (an expression meaning to get in good shape) is Jupiter.

Now, having said all that, there are exceptions which appear to violate the rules.

Some people want to do things, for instance, that are Mercury or Jupiter ruled under retrograde Mercury or Jupiter.  When the astrologer looks at the natal, those people often turn out to have such an aspect in their natal patterns.  For them, these are good times.

Another thing that is critical is the way the  planets that rule the occasion are aspected in the natal chart. The client may have Uranus trine Venus, for instance.  The only suitable time for their event has a square between those two planets.  Such a time can often be used because the transiting aspect pressures the natal chart and it responds by making the aspect work favorably.

There are some other rules you need to use.  One is the traditional dignity/debility system for the planets.  It does not include the outers. Mars is in its own sign in Aries or Scorpio and exalted in Capricorn. Venus rules Taurus and Libra, and is exalted in Pisces. Mercury rules Virgo and Gemini and is exalted in Virgo.  Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces and is exalted in Cancer.  Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius and is exalted in Libra.  The sun rules Leo and is exalted in Aries.  The moon rules Cancer and is exalted in Taurus. Their debilities and fall are the signs opposite the ones they rule and are exalted in.  The moon, exalted in Taurus, is in its fall in Scorpio, for instance.  It is debilitated in Capricorn.  You want to avoid such positions, and certainly not use one of them as significator of the event.  Never enhance such an influence unless there is a very good reason for it.

Such a 'good reason' might be that the debility matches a well-aspected natal planet that rules the house in question.  An example might be the moon in Capricorn in the 10th house for someone in the housewares business.

Angularity is powerful.  The houses 1, 10, 7 and 4 are the most potent, and in that order.  Next strongest are the succedent-11, 8, 5 and 2.  Weakest houses are the cadent ones, 12, 9, 6 and 3.

Aspects matter.  Squares, oppositions and inconjuncts are bad, sextiles, trines and parallels are good.  Let's not get all psychological here.  This is not natal analysis.  When we are trying to set up an event that gives us a good time line, we want to avoid snags and situations that put us in the soup.

Jupiter and Venus are the traditional benefics.  Aspects by the ruler of the event or the moon to one of them improve the chart.  Mars and Saturn are malefics and their prominence causes trouble unless one of them is the natural ruler of the event in question.  Keep them out of the angles otherwise.

There is no such thing as a perfect election chart but you want to get the best you can.  If you can't get a good aspect, choose a time when there are no aspects at all.  If you can only get one aspect, give it power over the situation.  If all else fails you, a good aspect between the sun and moon will save your bacon.  That aspect improves any election.

Surgery is a classic example. Sometimes we have no options and have to take what we get.  Other times we can work with a doctor and select the best hour. I had no choice on a time for some serious kidney surgery one year.  I wanted a day and time that were unavailable.  So I was stuck with the date.  The moon made only one aspect that day and it was a trine to Mercury in Libra.  Since the procedure began when Mercury was in 10 (the surgeon) I ended up with a top man in his field and he did an excellent job.  I was truly relieved that the universe managed such a nice chart for me.

Time matters.  The surgery was a single event which concluded in a few hours.  Had I been planning something that extended a second or third day, then other aspects might have been in play.  As it was, the operation was over by the time any difficult aspects could form.

Obviously the natal chart of the individual seeking the election becomes significant.

People with natal retrograde Mercury do quite well with an election chart for buying a car during a retrograde Mercury period.  The rest of us would not.  Most definitely, not.   

Whenever possible, a personal election should plug into the chart of the individual-the rising sign, rulers and angular planets all become important.  A great party?  Put Venus on the MC with good aspects on that day.   If the chart is for a fashion business, it can become even more significant, since the person's natal determines the times for success.  

But if a group of people want to start a social club, what matters is the chart for the club and its tie to specific individuals becomes less significant.  A strong tie by one or more people to the selected chart, however, often brings them into positions of importance in the club. Or they may keep their membership for years.

Here's where the triplicities shine.  Cardinal starts and ends quickly.  Mutable is chronic or comes and goes.  Fixed endures.  If the ruler of the event and/or the moon are in fixed signs, they add stability.  

But sometimes you don't want stability, you want speed.

Want to sell a house?  You probably want fast action.  Use a cardinal moon.  Waxing phase.  Cancer is an ideal sign for this.  Waxing phases benefit the seller.  Waning phases are good for the buyer because the price rises to the full moon and declines afterwards.  So…if you hold a garage sale, do it just as the full moon is forming.  And get a good aspect from the moon to the ruler of the second house.

The full moon attracts people. It's an ideal time to hold an event where you want as many as possible to attend.  An election for the full moon day is ideal for conferences and meetings.  An event in the last few days before the new moon is often a dud as far as attendance goes.  The dark of the moon is no time to get people in the door.

It amazes me that any astrologer will try such a bad aspect for a conference, but I have seen some with that lunar aspect.  There are seldom very many people in the halls.

On the other hand, it is a perfect time to get a good deal on something you want to buy. And confidential matters stay confidential then.  There are times you want privacy.

Here is the chart for a fitness center owned by a hospital which does a lot of rehabilitation as well as providing a wide range of exercise options for the fittest of people.  It opened on the day of the full moon and is a classic case of an ideal chart for that particular business.  I could not have selected a better one.  It is an accurate time from their records.

Gemini rises, and the ruler, Mercury, is late in Pisces in out-of-sign conjunction to both benefics, Jupiter and Venus.  The sun was in Pisces in the 10th and the moon in Virgo, coming to the full, from the 4th house. Normally a Pisces Mercury would not be recommended, but this is directly linked to the hospital which owns it and Pisces rules hospitals.  Jupiter, natural hospital ruler, and Venus, 12th  house ruler in this chart, are both widely conjunct it, though out-of-sign, in the 11th, providing a good solution to the hopes of the parent organization.

Mars in Scorpio  is trine the sun from the 5th house of  recreation, and of course a great many members swim or work out as part of their recreation or sport training.  It is part of a fixed t-square with Saturn and Neptune, and the t-square is in fixed houses. It's not a perfect chart but it is a very, very good one.  Like all charts, there are areas of stress.

But the ruler of the 2nd house of income is the moon and the moon is coming to its full. And that is the most powerful moon of all.

This place obviously makes money hand over fist and people pour in through the doors.  Parking in the lot is always at a premium.  Retirees, youthful parents with young children (they have an excellent child care set-up), and working folks of all ages come in and use the facilities.  It is a hugely successful operation with every imaginable one of the bells and whistles.

As one businessman told me years ago, lots of sales take care of all kinds of problems.  Making a lot of money is always a good solution for business worries.  The moon in this chart is also trine Saturn, ruler of the other money house, the 8th.

How should one begin an election planning?  Start with the moon phase and the planet that naturally rules the event.  Sit down with an ephemeris and start hunting.  When you find a possible day, you will find that a rectification tool in your astrology program can be a wonderful thing.  It allows you to put the planets in many different areas and see where they fall at different times of the day.

The first few times you try to do an election chart you may spend many days hunting for a good time.  Like all techniques in astrology, it helps to have experience.  The more you do, the better you get at it.

Weddings have specific rules that involve two houses, 1 and 7.  The first house, its ruler or any planet in it, Mars, and the sun rule the man.  The 7th house, its ruler or planet in it, the moon and Venus rule the woman.  Getting the rulers of 1 and 7 in good aspect to each other or to the benefics and keeping the malefics out of the angles takes effort.  Some times are simply not good because the planets are not in helpful alignment.  You don't want a marriage with Scorpio rising during a time period when Mars and Saturn are conjunct.   It's too much to overcome.

But if Mercury and Jupiter are in good aspect to each other, particularly in the natal chart of either party, you can use that pair as the 1/7 rulers.

In a wedding chart, the 10th rules the relationship between the two people and the 4th, how the marriage ends.  Venus is always no. 1 choice for the 10th house position since it says that there will be love.  Mars rules sex but no one spends the whole life in bed so there are never any circumstances where you want a 10th house Mars.  The rest of the time you'd fight.  Not good.

One thing that may ease your mind if you are launching off into the world of elections is that the natal chart always has primacy. If the period for an event looks favored in the natal chart, a good time will be selected for it.  It will be easy to do, in fact.  If the natal chart looks awful (for starting a business, say) the greatest election in the world won't work and you may have a hard time finding a day that is suitable.

Some books that may help: