snap election 解散総選挙
call a snap election 議会を解散して選挙を行う

After losing a crucial upper-house vote on privatising Japan’s postal monopoly, the prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has called a snap election, triggering a civil war in his own party and taking the country into uncharted waters

snap up 飛び付く、素早く[先を争って]取る[買う]、性急に判断する

snap up an offer
申し出に飛び付く[すぐに応じる]

The rent-seeking the prime minister complained of also plays a part: Malays snap up the shares reserved for them in initial public offerings, for example, and then sell them on at a profit.


bring forward 繰り上げる、日取りを早める、前倒しにする

That Mr Koizumi has risked everything by bringing the poll forward shows just how divided the LDP has become.