ballot

Pluralballots

Formsballots, balloting, balloted

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A piece of paper or card used to record a vote, originally a small ball dropped into a container for the same purpose.

   Officials counted every ballot by hand after the polls closed.

   Voters slipped each ballot into a sealed container at the door.

   Similarvote

   Note

   The word still carries its origin: Italian ballotta, a small ball used to register a vote, a diminutive of balla, "bale, bundle." The paper or card took over the name from the ball. In current political writing it often appears in compounds such as absentee ballot and ballot request form. In these, it names a physical document that can be mailed, counted or rejected.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Voting as a way of deciding something, especially by secret vote, or a single round of such voting.

   The union settled the dispute through a secret ballot of all members.

   The chairman was finally elected on the second ballot.

   Similarvote, poll, election

   Note

   Here the word names the procedure rather than the paper. With the definite article it can mean secret voting as an institution. The London and Westminster Review of 1836, in an article on bribery and intimidation at elections, weighed "the insufficiency of the ballot." Counted, it means a single round, as in elected on the second ballot. In union reporting, a ballot of members usually comes with a turnout figure.

3. 3
   noun

   All the votes recorded in an election, taken together as a whole.

   The challenger captured sixty percent of the ballot.

   Early returns showed the incumbent leading the ballot by a wide margin.

   Similarvote, poll

4. 4
   nounUScountable

   A list of the candidates running for office, also called a ticket.

   Voters found five names on the ballot for the open seat.

   The party put a young reformer on its ballot.

   Similarticket, slate

   Note

   An American use, in which the ballot is the roster of names voters choose among. A candidate gets on the ballot or is kept off it, and a party puts someone on its ballot. Ticket is its close synonym. Outside American usage, the word more often means the voting paper itself or the act of voting, so be careful with phrasing like "five names on the ballot."

5. 5
   verbintransitive

   To vote or reach a decision by ballot.

   The union balloted on whether to accept the pay offer.

   Residents will ballot to decide the park's future.

   Similarvote

   Note

   The intransitive verb takes for or on: one ballots for a candidate, or on a pay offer. It is the voters' verb. When the organizers are the subject and the voters the object, as in the union balloted its members, the verb has turned transitive. That is the "invite to vote" use. Note the spelling: balloted and balloting keep a single t.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To invite a group to vote on a proposal.

   Management balloted the workforce on the proposed merger.

   The society plans to ballot all fellows before changing its rules.

   Similarpoll, canvass, survey, consult

7. 7
   verbintransitive

   To select or allocate by drawing lots.

   Demand was so high that the club balloted for entry.

   If applications exceed places, we ballot for the remaining spots.

   Note

   A use that keeps the chance of the little ball rather than the choice. When places are oversubscribed, an organization ballots for them, and the outcome is luck, not preference. It is easy to mistake for voting by ballot, since both take for. Context tells you whether people chose or a draw decided.

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