Elect the Dead is the debut studio album by rock musician Serj Tankian, lead singer and founding member of Armenian-American metal band System of a Down.

Alongside Tankian appears Armenian-American coloratura Ani Maldjian, drummers John Dolmayan (System of a Down) and Brain (Primus, Guns N' Roses), Dan Monti on guitars, as well as a string section featuring Antonio Pontarelli.

[12] The initial single from the album was a two-track promo including "Empty Walls" and "The Unthinking Majority", released on September 10, 2007.

Collectible versions of the album include an instrumental disc offered by Serjical Strike/Reprise Records, and the "final master" from Reprise intended for specific journalists and reviewers.

[18] Previously an undated, un-mastered 'Smart Talk' promo featured these same 'final versions' of the songs, but the sequence of tracks ten and eleven was juxtaposed.

The original version appeared on System of a Down's fourth demo tape but had no other recordings of the song were known to exist.