balloting

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of ballot.

   The union is balloting its members on the proposed strike action.

   Balloting on the new constitution continued throughout the afternoon.

   Note

   The verb behind it works in two ways. Used intransitively, people ballot: they vote or decide by ballot, or they draw lots. Used transitively, a union ballots its members, inviting them to vote on a proposal, so the object is the voters and not the question. As a gerund it shades into the noun for the vote itself, and only that noun takes a plural, as in several ballotings.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   A vote or decision reached through the casting of ballots.

   The balloting produced a clear majority in favor of the merger.

   Officials announced the results once the balloting had closed.

   Similarvoting, vote, poll, polling

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