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Ballot

[bal-uht]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

a slip or sheet of paper, cardboard, or the like, on which a voter marks his or her vote.

the method of secret voting by means of printed or written ballots or by means of voting machines.

voting in general, or a round of voting: Our candidate was defeated on the third ballot.

the list of candidates to be voted on: They succeeded in getting her name placed on the ballot.

the right to vote: to gain the ballot after years of struggle.

EXPAND

the whole number of votes cast or recorded.

a system or the practice of drawing lots: The assassin would be chosen by ballot.

(formerly) a little ball used in voting.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

to vote by ballot: to ballot against a candidate.

10.

to draw lots: to ballot for places.

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Ballot is one of our favorite verbs.

So is subtilize. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used with object)

11.

to canvass or solicit (a group, membership, etc.) for votes: Members were balloted on the resolution.

12.

to select, especially for military service, by ballot: Certain age groups will not be balloted at this time.

Origin:
1540–50; (< Middle French ballotte) < Italian ballotta (probably < Venetian), equivalent to ball(a) ball¹ + -otta diminutive suffix

Related forms

bal·lot·er, noun

non·bal·lot·ing, noun

pre·bal·lot, verb (used with object), -lot·ed, -lot·ing.

re·bal·lot, noun, verb (used without object)

un·bal·lot·ed, adjective

Can be confused: ballad, ballet, ballot.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Ballot

Example Sentences

Instead of going to the polling places, all the ballots and ballot boxes were delivered to the district government's headquarters.

Voters also sent a mixed message on ballot measures.

The council could also place its own initiatives on the ballot.

EXPAND

Instead of going to the polling places, all the ballots and ballot boxes were delivered to the district government's headquarters.

Voters also sent a mixed message on ballot measures.

The council could also place its own initiatives on the ballot.

Thanks to those of you who cast a ballot for your favorite site.

Increasing spending on elections could improve security, accuracy and ballot design.

Then jurors vote for the best varieties by secret ballot and are instructed to give disease-resistance high priority.

After votes are entered, a copy of a printed ballot appears behind a clear plastic screen.

Because of a missed deadline, none of the three candidates running for a seat on the town board appeared on the official ballot.

Most of us can challenge the law through our courts or the ballot process.

Some voters were witnessed casting more than one ballot and others voted by proxy, illegally.

But their reach has not extended into the ballot box.

Myriad special interests combined with state budget woes mire two environmentally friendly ballot initiatives.

Voters place a full-size paper ballot into the machine, which is displayed on a touch-screen machine.

So many candidates are running in local elections next month that the ballot runs six and a half feet.

The sticker shock could also become a factor at the ballot box.

Winning candidates piled up huge victories on high turnouts in places where the ballot papers had never even arrived.

So, if want changed it will have to be done at the ballot box.

Voters can mail in their printed ballot, or place it in a designated ballot box.

In many states there are ballot propositions that can have huge effects.

Several factors explain this surge in enthusiasm for the ballot box.

McElroy lost his primary and won't be on the ballot.

But a voter can refuse to sign the affidavit and still cast a ballot, though he must cast a provisional ballot in this case.

All three of the state's public universities could face further cuts if voters reject a sales-tax ballot measure later this month.

The ballot box does not allow for such deliberation.

They can't win at the ballot boxWe're gonna kill all of them.

Voters could examine, but not touch, the record before casting their ballot.

The death penalty should be stopped through the ballot box.

The paper ballot would also be used in a full manual recount.

As a voter, you've done your part by casting your ballot.

Florida is not alone in its bizarre ballot shenanigans.

The voter swipes a bar code over a reader that resets the machine for a new vote and calls up a ballot.

Many of the leaders were already crying fraud even before the first ballot was cast.

The interface notes skipped races or ballot questions.

Measures placed on the ballot by citizen initiatives are by their nature.

One measure of how the nation might be willing to tackle the smart-growth agenda is the ballot box.

Tuesday's ballot has questions on term limits and administrative changes, and both seem intended to bedevil.

After all, the ballot offers a distinct political choice.

California voters will consider three ballot measures that propose wide-ranging changes to the state's criminal justice system.

Though a ballot failed to back that, the gaping disagreements have not gone away.

Fowler notes that people who vote often do so even when they know their lone ballot will not change the outcome of an election.

The paper would then drop into a secure ballot box for use in a recount.

But this year shades of gray are everywhere, as eight more states consider similar ballot measures.

When the ballot still didn't arrive, he contacted the elections office but was told to be patient and wait another week.

It featured stuffed ballot boxes and repeat voting, ballot slips scattered in gutters, trashed polling stations and intimidation.

And the only way they got there was through ballot stuffing.

They saw the no-show of ballot papers as evidence of sabotage, though they have accepted the postponed poll dates.

And although he is not on the ballot this year, this matters.

And the late delivery of ballot papers, which were securely printed abroad, delayed the voting by a week.

Those whose hands had been chopped off during the war voted by stamping a big toe-print on the ballot paper.

But this time he will find it hard even to get on the ballot in many states.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

ballot (ˈbælət)

—n
1.	the democratic practice of selecting a representative, a course of action, or deciding some other choice by submitting the options to a vote of all qualified persons
2.	an instance of voting, usually in secret using ballot papers or a voting machine
3.	the paper on which a vote is recorded
4.	a list of candidates standing for office
5.	the number of votes cast in an election
6.	a random selection of successful applicants for something in which the demand exceeds the supply, esp for shares in an oversubscribed new issue
7.	(NZ) the allocation by ballot of farming land among eligible candidates, such as ex-servicemen
8.	(NZ) a low-interest housing loan allocated by building societies by drawing lots among its eligible members

—vb (usually foll by for) (often foll by for) , -lots, -loting, -loted
9.	to vote or elicit a vote from: we balloted the members on this issue
10.	to select (officials, etc) by lot or ballot or to select (successful applicants) at random
11.	to vote or decide (on an issue, etc)

[C16: from Italian ballotta, literally: a little ball, from ballaball¹]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ballot

1540s, from It. pallotte, dim. of palla "ball," for small balls used as counters in secret voting (see balloon). Earliest references are to Venice.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

ballot

see stuff the ballot box.