El electorado votó.

Electorado means the electorate: the body of people who are eligible to vote in an election.

It is a collective noun, so even though it refers to many people, Spanish treats it as a singular noun grammatically.

In context, El electorado votó means the electorate voted.

Because electorado refers to the voting population as one group, not to individual voters one by one.

So:

• el electorado = the electorate / the voting public
• los votantes = the voters

Spanish often uses a singular collective noun where English may also use a collective expression.

Because the subject is el electorado, and that noun is grammatically singular.

So Spanish uses the third person singular form:

• El electorado votó = The electorate voted

If the subject were plural, the verb would be plural too:

• Los votantes votaron = The voters voted

This is a very common point in Spanish: grammar follows the noun form, not necessarily the number of people in real life.

Votó is the pretérito perfecto simple (usually called the preterite in English-language Spanish teaching).

It is the third person singular of votar.

So:

• voto = I vote
• voté = I voted
• votó = he/she/it voted

In this sentence, it expresses a completed action in the past: the electorate voted.

The accent mark shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• voto = I vote / a vote
• votó = he/she/it voted

Without the accent, the word would be read differently and would mean something else.

So the accent is essential here.

In Spain Spanish, votó is pronounced approximately bo-TO.

A few helpful notes:

• v and b are pronounced very similarly in Spanish
• the stress falls on the last syllable because of the accent: vo-TÓ
• the o sounds are pure vowels, not like the changing vowel sounds often heard in English

So the rhythm is short and clear: el e-lec-to-RA-do vo-TÓ.

They are related, but not identical in tone and usage.

• electorado = the electorate, the body of eligible voters as a group
• votantes = voters, the people who voted or who vote

Electorado sounds more formal, political, and analytical. You often see it in news reports, political commentary, and official discussions.

Examples:

• El electorado está dividido. = The electorate is divided.
• Los votantes apoyaron la propuesta. = The voters supported the proposal.

So in your sentence, el electorado gives a more formal, collective feel.

Yes, especially in journalistic, political, and formal contexts.

In everyday conversation, people may more often say things like:

• la gente votó
• los votantes votaron
• la población votó

But el electorado is perfectly normal and very common in news and political analysis in Spain.

Yes. Votar can be used intransitively when the context is clear.

So El electorado votó simply means The electorate voted.

If you want to say what or whom they voted for, Spanish can add more information:

• El electorado votó al partido conservador. = The electorate voted for the Conservative Party.
• El electorado votó a favor de la reforma. = The electorate voted in favour of the reform.

But it is completely natural to leave that unsaid if the point is just that the voting happened.

Normally, no. Standard Spanish treats electorado as singular, so the verb is singular:

• El electorado votó
• El electorado está cansado

In some languages, collective nouns sometimes switch between singular and plural agreement, but in Spanish the normal choice here is singular agreement.

Yes, that is a very natural literal translation in formal or political English.

Depending on context, English might also choose:

• The voters voted
• The voting public voted
• The electorate cast their vote(s)

But The electorate voted is a straightforward and accurate equivalent.

Because el electorado is the subject, not a direct object.

The personal a is used before specific human direct objects, for example:

• El gobierno escuchó al electorado. = The government listened to the electorate.

But in El electorado votó, el electorado is doing the action, so no a is used.