Definition of ballot in English:

ballot

nounPlural ballots ˈbalətˈbælət

1A system of voting secretly and in writing on a particular issue.
a strike ballot
mass noun the commissioners were elected by ballot
Example sentencesExamples
- Voting by ballot in Division elections shall be conducted by mail and shall include the option of electronic means as provided for by the Board of Directors.
- In addition to pay, there are also strike ballots over safety, victimisation of union reps and other issues.
- Every district secretary, every regional secretary was elected by ballot.
- There has been a strike ballot over the issue, which closes this week.
- A person's membership may be revoked for cause, other than nonpayment of dues, by a two-thirds vote by ballot of the Board of Directors.
- While out of office, he campaigned for further reforms, including vote by ballot, household suffrage, and triennial parliaments, embarrassing the Whig ministers.
- The workers are to begin voting in a strike ballot on January 25, following their rejection of a proposed two-year wage deal from the company.
- The questions to be answered are selected by groups of practicing family physicians who vote through an online ballot.
- And residents will have to choose from a huge 15 nominations for councillor positions when they vote by ballot.
- Britain's firefighters voted to hold a ballot for strike action today.
- Apart from some ‘legislators-at-large’, however, all the legislators were elected by ballot.
- Four local newspaper chapels have now voted for strike ballots.
- Votes in a ballot for strike action are still being counted.
- Almost two out of three who voted in a preliminary ballot said they would strike over plans by Essex County Council to make the changes in September.
- Teachers in four other schools are to hold consultative strike ballots over the same issue.
- Eurotunnel train drivers are to hold a strike ballot over the issue of trade union recognition, it was announced this week.
- Mixed feelings swell up inside me when I consider the issue of postal ballots in the local elections this year.
- After all the videos were played (All were really great!) the crowd voted by ballot.
- Mental health workers in Manchester have voted for a strike ballot over cuts they claim will kill patients.
- Last July, after negotiations failed to produce any progress, workers overwhelmingly voted in a union ballot to strike.
Synonyms
public vote, plebiscite, popular vote, poll
1. 1.1the ballot The total number of votes cast in a ballot.
  he won 54 per cent of the ballot
  Example sentencesExamples
  His vote share grew and in the Assembly elections he led the party in securing 45 per cent of the ballot.
  The nut has won the argument and now we need to maximise the turnout in the ballot.
  There was a low turnout in the ballot with just 30 percent of teachers voting.
  At first glance the ballot results might suggest total failure for this Labour strategy - at least on the local election front.
  Instead, his vote dropped by over a million votes and in the first round of voting he gained just 34.9 percent of the ballot.
  Voter complaints about being given incorrect ballots and mismatches between ballot totals and the number of people who signed up to vote also surfaced in San Diego.
  Of the 16,000 workers who participated in the ballot, 84.4 percent voted in favor of strike action.
  With less than 1 percent of ballot votes counted, the U.S.-backed Karzai is ahead with 56 percent of the vote.
  The union was unable to reveal the level of turnout for the ballot.
  In the ballot for industrial action a majority of 82 percent voted in favour of strike action.
  Ray predicted that violations would be rampant during both legislative and presidential elections and during the ballot counting.
  Debs won 897,000 votes on election day, 6 percent of the ballot before women had the right to vote.
  The demand to reopen the ballot box was sparked by a statement made by three councillors who witnessed the ballot counting.
  The turnout for the ballot was 68 per cent, and of those, the vote was 2,947 in favour of action and 2,246 against.
  In fact the ballot saw 57 per cent of tenants turn out to vote with 76 per cent voting ‘yes’ to the move.
  In our phone poll more than 80 per cent favoured postponing the ballot.
  The turnout from the ballot was reported to be extremely high, possibly up to 80%, with a result due on Friday.
  Punch cards have averaged a residual vote rate of 2.5 percent in presidential elections and 4.7 percent down the ballot.
  As of Tuesday morning, the party was still among the top six in the ballot counting, gaining 7.09% of the votes.
  Morales garnered 21 percent of the ballot to place a surprise second in the presidential race.
  Synonyms
  vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands
2. 1.2 The piece of paper used to record a person's vote.
  there were fifty-three abstentions and twenty-eight spoilt ballots
  Example sentencesExamples
  A suspended election would involve extraordinary efforts to secure and protect ballots and voting systems.
  That is because of ‘chads’ on the punched ballot, or small pieces of paper left when the voter does not fully punch the paper.
  And with more than 11,000 electoral jurisdictions designing their own ballots and voting systems, all of our votes are in danger.
  To be counted, the ballot must be received at headquarters by Friday, September 6.
  The paper ballots will be checked at election offices while votes recorded in the machines will be examined at an army base.
  Which is worse: e-voting without a paper record or paper ballots?
  He defeated the National Awakening Party candidate by just one ballot.
  A manual count is a laborious process whereby each ballot is scrutinised individually by local electoral officials.
  Well look, you know, it is too late to fix these machines, but really we should be voting on paper ballots.
  With a postal ballot, community patriarchs can insist on inspecting the ballots before voting.
  That's not all - the party plans to use paper ballots rather than voting machines in order to keep down costs.
  Referendums and elections should be held with plain old paper ballots, marked by voters with a sturdy pencil.
  If a printer breaks, the voter is not allowed to cast a vote until the ballot is finished printing.
  Elections have been stolen and voters disenfranchised with paper ballots, too.
  Punch cards, the other paper-based system, loses at least 50 percent more votes than optically-scanned paper ballots.
  Those who find that they cannot vote electronically should proceed to the Feds office, where paper ballots will be made available.
  The election will be a postal ballot, with voting papers going out from 4 October.
  Of course, Mr Leslie may also wish to adopt the proven ‘inked finger’ security system to ensure the ballot's greater integrity.
  Democrats also had difficulty locating New York regiments in order to distribute ballots and collect the votes.
  The voting machines and paper ballots for said election shall carry the following designation, which shall be the title and submission clause.
  Synonyms
  vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands
3. 1.3 A lottery held to decide the allocation of tickets, shares, or other things among a number of applicants.
  a ballot decides which investors will be successful in buying the stock
  Example sentencesExamples
  The Ticket Window random draw ballot for individual matches at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 is now complete.
  Maureen was one of 1,000 lucky people to have won tickets for the event in a competition ballot, and among an estimated 200 to have seen both events.
  Unfortunately being a member does not give you priority on home England matches anymore and you have to enter a ballot to get tickets for away matches.
  Since we also assume that demand will far outweigh the available allocation of tickets, we will perform a ballot on 31 January 2006 of all orders received.
  There are 70,000 tickets being allocated by ballot (in pairs).
  Sure, this would allow the organisers to ensure the maximum possible number of visitors to Germany during the World Cup period, but if that's the case it is not a completely fair ticket ballot.
  The Ticket Window, sometimes known as a ticket ballot or lottery, will give every applicant an equal chance of getting seats for individual matches.
  Now they are holding a ballot to decide which of the villains will win the dubious honour of having his or her effigy burned on a Guy Fawkes bonfire next month.
  Synonyms
  lottery, draw, prize draw, sweepstake, sweep, tombola

verbballots, balloting, balloted ˈbalətˈbælət

[with object]

1(of an organization) ask (members) to vote secretly on an issue.
the union is preparing to ballot its members on industrial action
Example sentencesExamples
- The drivers' union ASLEF is preparing to ballot its members for a 48-hour strike.
- They would then ballot their 11,000 members on such an offer.
- The union will ballot its nearly 500 members at First Bus on the offer.
- We are balloting members, and those votes will be counted tomorrow.
- The National Union of Journalists is preparing to ballot its members over a cull of staff at Express Newspapers that could see up to 13 jobs lost in Scotland.
- Union members are now being balloted on industrial action.
- The GMB union had threatened to ballot its 2,000 members at Warrington, Cheshire and Aylesford in Kent in a row over contracts of employment.
- The union accused employers of trying to make last-minute changes to the deal and warned that its 55,000 members could be balloted again for a fresh bout of industrial action.
- Although there are less than 1,000 clerical workers, all 8,000 of the union's members are being balloted.
- The PPTA is currently balloting its 14,400 members on government moves to take a 16-month dispute over pay and workloads into arbitration.
- Their members are being balloted for action and the result was expected on Friday of this week.
- ‘It could be we will ballot our IT members on possible industrial action,’ he told the paper.
- Last April's NUT annual conference unanimously voted to ballot members on a boycott of the SAT's.
- Unison members may also be balloted for strike action.
- Union members were balloted and voted for the one-day strike next Wednesday.
- Issues have been clarified and various unions expect to have balloted their members by the end of this week.
- The Teachers Union of Ireland is preparing to ballot its members on the offer.
- It said it was currently balloting members in headquarter areas for supportive industrial action, and was receiving a very positive response.
- At its annual conference in April, the National Union of Teachers voted to ballot its members on boycotting the testing of pupils at ages seven, 11 and 14 in England.
- Every time the members have been balloted they have come back more strongly in favour of action.
Synonyms
canvass, survey, ask, question, interview, ballot, sample
1. 1.1no object Cast one's vote on an issue.
  with infinitive ambulance crews balloted unanimously to reject the deal
  Example sentencesExamples
  ‘In the absence of those assurances, we will have no choice but to ballot for industrial action,’ he said.
  It is vital that all the broadcasting unions move to ballot for action swiftly before the mood turns to resignation, they say.
  A mass meeting of over 500 Unison members held at the end of November voted unanimously to ballot for further action in support of the social workers.
  The cabin crews have balloted for industrial action and a massive ‘yes’ vote is expected.
  Ambulance workers in the West Midlands and Shropshire are set to ballot for strikes over the implementation of a new pay deal.
  This was the fourth time the workforce had been asked if they wanted to ballot for strike action.
  It was regrettable that the workers felt that they had been put into a corner where they had to ballot for industrial action.
  Teachers voted to ballot for industrial action yesterday after calling for reduced class sizes in Scotland.
  They voted unanimously to ballot to strike in defence of educational provision in the borough.
  Tomorrow morning a special Caucus meeting will be held to ballot for the new positions on the frontbench.
  The train drivers' union Aslef is also threatening to ballot for strikes in a separate dispute over pay.
  But if the Board maintains its present approach the union will be forced to ballot for protest action to protect services and jobs.
  Firefighters in York have voted unanimously to ballot for county-wide strike action in protest at the controversial sacking of a colleague.
  It would be equal to a political public beheading if your office denies access to ballot for SEP on the basis of any bureaucratic assault.
  Over 8,000 drivers, warehouse and support staff in Morrisons are to ballot for strike action.
  Unions are to ballot for industrial action from this week over fears that regional airports will not be able to survive on their own.
  Hundreds of striking Yorkshire miners are set to ballot for further industrial action, in a ground-breaking legal manoeuvre which could safeguard their jobs.
  On Friday of this week, Unison was set to announce whether it would ballot for a one day strike - possibly for 23 March.
  Cabin crew will ballot for industrial action this week.
  About 300 school caretakers and cleaners employed by Jarvis in Huddersfield and Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, are set to ballot for strikes over pay and conditions.
2. 1.2 Decide the allocation of (something) to applicants by drawing lots.
  if the offer is oversubscribed acceptances will be balloted
  Example sentencesExamples
  If you're interested in 2 Arsenal tickets let me know - my husband and I balloted for tickets before we knew the fixture list.
  I balloted for tickets, did whatever I was asked to do to "increase my chances of getting tickets" but still - no tickets.
  The Junior concert has 'caught on' to such an extent that tickets will soon have to be balloted for.

Origin

Mid 16th century (originally denoting a small coloured ball placed in a container to register a vote): from Italian ballotta, diminutive of balla (see ball¹).

ball from Middle English:
The spherical ball dates from the early Middle Ages, and comes from an old Scandinavian word that was the ultimate root of Italian ballotta, from which English took ballot in the mid 16th century, and also of French ballon and Italian ballone ‘large ball’, one of which was the source of balloon. The ball at which people dance is unrelated. It came, in the early 17th century, from French, and goes back to Latin ballare ‘to dance’. This was also the source of ballad (Late Middle English) and ballet (mid 17th century).
In America a ball game is a baseball match and a ballpark a baseball stadium. These have entered even British English in phrases such as a whole new ball game, ‘a completely new set of circumstances’, in the (right) ballpark, ‘a particular area or range’, and a ballpark figure (an approximate figure).
The dancing sense has notably given us have a ball, meaning ‘enjoy yourself a lot’. This was originally an American expression of the 1930s, but is now used nearly everywhere that English is spoken.
Testicles have been balls since the Middle Ages, but the slang sense ‘nonsense’ is Victorian. The meaning ‘courage, determination’ is more recent still, dating only from the 1950s. People often claim that the phrase cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey comes from a former naval custom of storing cannonballs on a brass rack or ‘monkey’. When the weather was very cold the rack could contract and eject the cannonballs. There are some severe problems with this explanation, though. First, cannonballs were stored on a wooden rack, not a brass one. Second, it would have to be extremely cold to cause sufficient contraction in the metal for this to happen. And third, the earliest recorded versions of the phrase (dating from the 19th century) feature noses and tails rather than balls, suggesting that the reference is to a brass statue of a monkey, and that the ‘balls’ are testicles rather than cannonballs. See also bollock, cob, evil

Rhymes

palate

Definition of ballot in US English:

ballot

nounˈbælətˈbalət

1A process of voting, in writing and typically in secret.
the commissioners were elected by ballot
next year's primary ballot
Example sentencesExamples
- Teachers in four other schools are to hold consultative strike ballots over the same issue.
- Last July, after negotiations failed to produce any progress, workers overwhelmingly voted in a union ballot to strike.
- In addition to pay, there are also strike ballots over safety, victimisation of union reps and other issues.
- There has been a strike ballot over the issue, which closes this week.
- After all the videos were played (All were really great!) the crowd voted by ballot.
- Britain's firefighters voted to hold a ballot for strike action today.
- Almost two out of three who voted in a preliminary ballot said they would strike over plans by Essex County Council to make the changes in September.
- Every district secretary, every regional secretary was elected by ballot.
- And residents will have to choose from a huge 15 nominations for councillor positions when they vote by ballot.
- Votes in a ballot for strike action are still being counted.
- Apart from some ‘legislators-at-large’, however, all the legislators were elected by ballot.
- Mental health workers in Manchester have voted for a strike ballot over cuts they claim will kill patients.
- Voting by ballot in Division elections shall be conducted by mail and shall include the option of electronic means as provided for by the Board of Directors.
- A person's membership may be revoked for cause, other than nonpayment of dues, by a two-thirds vote by ballot of the Board of Directors.
- Mixed feelings swell up inside me when I consider the issue of postal ballots in the local elections this year.
- While out of office, he campaigned for further reforms, including vote by ballot, household suffrage, and triennial parliaments, embarrassing the Whig ministers.
- The workers are to begin voting in a strike ballot on January 25, following their rejection of a proposed two-year wage deal from the company.
- Eurotunnel train drivers are to hold a strike ballot over the issue of trade union recognition, it was announced this week.
- The questions to be answered are selected by groups of practicing family physicians who vote through an online ballot.
- Four local newspaper chapels have now voted for strike ballots.
Synonyms
public vote, plebiscite, popular vote, poll
1. 1.1the ballot The total number of votes cast in a ballot.
  he won 54 percent of the ballot
  Example sentencesExamples
  The turnout from the ballot was reported to be extremely high, possibly up to 80%, with a result due on Friday.
  With less than 1 percent of ballot votes counted, the U.S.-backed Karzai is ahead with 56 percent of the vote.
  Instead, his vote dropped by over a million votes and in the first round of voting he gained just 34.9 percent of the ballot.
  Of the 16,000 workers who participated in the ballot, 84.4 percent voted in favor of strike action.
  Debs won 897,000 votes on election day, 6 percent of the ballot before women had the right to vote.
  As of Tuesday morning, the party was still among the top six in the ballot counting, gaining 7.09% of the votes.
  The demand to reopen the ballot box was sparked by a statement made by three councillors who witnessed the ballot counting.
  Voter complaints about being given incorrect ballots and mismatches between ballot totals and the number of people who signed up to vote also surfaced in San Diego.
  At first glance the ballot results might suggest total failure for this Labour strategy - at least on the local election front.
  The nut has won the argument and now we need to maximise the turnout in the ballot.
  The turnout for the ballot was 68 per cent, and of those, the vote was 2,947 in favour of action and 2,246 against.
  There was a low turnout in the ballot with just 30 percent of teachers voting.
  Ray predicted that violations would be rampant during both legislative and presidential elections and during the ballot counting.
  Punch cards have averaged a residual vote rate of 2.5 percent in presidential elections and 4.7 percent down the ballot.
  In our phone poll more than 80 per cent favoured postponing the ballot.
  His vote share grew and in the Assembly elections he led the party in securing 45 per cent of the ballot.
  In the ballot for industrial action a majority of 82 percent voted in favour of strike action.
  The union was unable to reveal the level of turnout for the ballot.
  Morales garnered 21 percent of the ballot to place a surprise second in the presidential race.
  In fact the ballot saw 57 per cent of tenants turn out to vote with 76 per cent voting ‘yes’ to the move.
  Synonyms
  vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands
2. 1.2 The piece of paper used to record someone's vote.
  Example sentencesExamples
  To be counted, the ballot must be received at headquarters by Friday, September 6.
  That is because of ‘chads’ on the punched ballot, or small pieces of paper left when the voter does not fully punch the paper.
  Elections have been stolen and voters disenfranchised with paper ballots, too.
  If a printer breaks, the voter is not allowed to cast a vote until the ballot is finished printing.
  He defeated the National Awakening Party candidate by just one ballot.
  The voting machines and paper ballots for said election shall carry the following designation, which shall be the title and submission clause.
  Well look, you know, it is too late to fix these machines, but really we should be voting on paper ballots.
  Of course, Mr Leslie may also wish to adopt the proven ‘inked finger’ security system to ensure the ballot's greater integrity.
  Democrats also had difficulty locating New York regiments in order to distribute ballots and collect the votes.
  Which is worse: e-voting without a paper record or paper ballots?
  That's not all - the party plans to use paper ballots rather than voting machines in order to keep down costs.
  Referendums and elections should be held with plain old paper ballots, marked by voters with a sturdy pencil.
  A suspended election would involve extraordinary efforts to secure and protect ballots and voting systems.
  With a postal ballot, community patriarchs can insist on inspecting the ballots before voting.
  Punch cards, the other paper-based system, loses at least 50 percent more votes than optically-scanned paper ballots.
  And with more than 11,000 electoral jurisdictions designing their own ballots and voting systems, all of our votes are in danger.
  Those who find that they cannot vote electronically should proceed to the Feds office, where paper ballots will be made available.
  A manual count is a laborious process whereby each ballot is scrutinised individually by local electoral officials.
  The paper ballots will be checked at election offices while votes recorded in the machines will be examined at an army base.
  The election will be a postal ballot, with voting papers going out from 4 October.
  Synonyms
  vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands

verbˈbælətˈbalət

[with object]

1(of an organization) elicit a secret vote from (members) on a particular issue.
the union is preparing to ballot its members on the same issue
Example sentencesExamples
- Although there are less than 1,000 clerical workers, all 8,000 of the union's members are being balloted.
- The PPTA is currently balloting its 14,400 members on government moves to take a 16-month dispute over pay and workloads into arbitration.
- Every time the members have been balloted they have come back more strongly in favour of action.
- Their members are being balloted for action and the result was expected on Friday of this week.
- ‘It could be we will ballot our IT members on possible industrial action,’ he told the paper.
- Union members were balloted and voted for the one-day strike next Wednesday.
- Last April's NUT annual conference unanimously voted to ballot members on a boycott of the SAT's.
- Unison members may also be balloted for strike action.
- Union members are now being balloted on industrial action.
- The drivers' union ASLEF is preparing to ballot its members for a 48-hour strike.
- It said it was currently balloting members in headquarter areas for supportive industrial action, and was receiving a very positive response.
- The union will ballot its nearly 500 members at First Bus on the offer.
- Issues have been clarified and various unions expect to have balloted their members by the end of this week.
- They would then ballot their 11,000 members on such an offer.
- The GMB union had threatened to ballot its 2,000 members at Warrington, Cheshire and Aylesford in Kent in a row over contracts of employment.
- The National Union of Journalists is preparing to ballot its members over a cull of staff at Express Newspapers that could see up to 13 jobs lost in Scotland.
- We are balloting members, and those votes will be counted tomorrow.
- The union accused employers of trying to make last-minute changes to the deal and warned that its 55,000 members could be balloted again for a fresh bout of industrial action.
- At its annual conference in April, the National Union of Teachers voted to ballot its members on boycotting the testing of pupils at ages seven, 11 and 14 in England.
- The Teachers Union of Ireland is preparing to ballot its members on the offer.
Synonyms
canvass, survey, ask, question, interview, ballot, sample
1. 1.1no object Cast one's vote on a particular issue.
  ambulance crews balloted unanimously to reject the deal
  Example sentencesExamples
  A mass meeting of over 500 Unison members held at the end of November voted unanimously to ballot for further action in support of the social workers.
  Cabin crew will ballot for industrial action this week.
  Unions are to ballot for industrial action from this week over fears that regional airports will not be able to survive on their own.
  Tomorrow morning a special Caucus meeting will be held to ballot for the new positions on the frontbench.
  ‘In the absence of those assurances, we will have no choice but to ballot for industrial action,’ he said.
  Ambulance workers in the West Midlands and Shropshire are set to ballot for strikes over the implementation of a new pay deal.
  Firefighters in York have voted unanimously to ballot for county-wide strike action in protest at the controversial sacking of a colleague.
  Over 8,000 drivers, warehouse and support staff in Morrisons are to ballot for strike action.
  This was the fourth time the workforce had been asked if they wanted to ballot for strike action.
  It would be equal to a political public beheading if your office denies access to ballot for SEP on the basis of any bureaucratic assault.
  The train drivers' union Aslef is also threatening to ballot for strikes in a separate dispute over pay.
  It was regrettable that the workers felt that they had been put into a corner where they had to ballot for industrial action.
  On Friday of this week, Unison was set to announce whether it would ballot for a one day strike - possibly for 23 March.
  Teachers voted to ballot for industrial action yesterday after calling for reduced class sizes in Scotland.
  Hundreds of striking Yorkshire miners are set to ballot for further industrial action, in a ground-breaking legal manoeuvre which could safeguard their jobs.
  They voted unanimously to ballot to strike in defence of educational provision in the borough.
  About 300 school caretakers and cleaners employed by Jarvis in Huddersfield and Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, are set to ballot for strikes over pay and conditions.
  The cabin crews have balloted for industrial action and a massive ‘yes’ vote is expected.
  It is vital that all the broadcasting unions move to ballot for action swiftly before the mood turns to resignation, they say.
  But if the Board maintains its present approach the union will be forced to ballot for protest action to protect services and jobs.
2. 1.2 Decide the allocation of (something) to applicants by drawing lots.
  Example sentencesExamples
  I balloted for tickets, did whatever I was asked to do to "increase my chances of getting tickets" but still - no tickets.
  The Junior concert has 'caught on' to such an extent that tickets will soon have to be balloted for.
  If you're interested in 2 Arsenal tickets let me know - my husband and I balloted for tickets before we knew the fixture list.

Origin

Mid 16th century (originally denoting a small colored ball placed in a container to register a vote): from Italian ballotta, diminutive of balla (see ball).

单词	ballot
释义	Definition of ballot in English: ballot nounPlural ballots ˈbalətˈbælət 1A system of voting secretly and in writing on a particular issue. a strike ballot mass noun the commissioners were elected by ballot Example sentencesExamples Voting by ballot in Division elections shall be conducted by mail and shall include the option of electronic means as provided for by the Board of Directors. In addition to pay, there are also strike ballots over safety, victimisation of union reps and other issues. Every district secretary, every regional secretary was elected by ballot. There has been a strike ballot over the issue, which closes this week. A person's membership may be revoked for cause, other than nonpayment of dues, by a two-thirds vote by ballot of the Board of Directors. While out of office, he campaigned for further reforms, including vote by ballot, household suffrage, and triennial parliaments, embarrassing the Whig ministers. The workers are to begin voting in a strike ballot on January 25, following their rejection of a proposed two-year wage deal from the company. The questions to be answered are selected by groups of practicing family physicians who vote through an online ballot. And residents will have to choose from a huge 15 nominations for councillor positions when they vote by ballot. Britain's firefighters voted to hold a ballot for strike action today. Apart from some ‘legislators-at-large’, however, all the legislators were elected by ballot. Four local newspaper chapels have now voted for strike ballots. Votes in a ballot for strike action are still being counted. Almost two out of three who voted in a preliminary ballot said they would strike over plans by Essex County Council to make the changes in September. Teachers in four other schools are to hold consultative strike ballots over the same issue. Eurotunnel train drivers are to hold a strike ballot over the issue of trade union recognition, it was announced this week. Mixed feelings swell up inside me when I consider the issue of postal ballots in the local elections this year. After all the videos were played (All were really great!) the crowd voted by ballot. Mental health workers in Manchester have voted for a strike ballot over cuts they claim will kill patients. Last July, after negotiations failed to produce any progress, workers overwhelmingly voted in a union ballot to strike. Synonyms public vote, plebiscite, popular vote, poll 1.1the ballot The total number of votes cast in a ballot. he won 54 per cent of the ballot Example sentencesExamples His vote share grew and in the Assembly elections he led the party in securing 45 per cent of the ballot. The nut has won the argument and now we need to maximise the turnout in the ballot. There was a low turnout in the ballot with just 30 percent of teachers voting. At first glance the ballot results might suggest total failure for this Labour strategy - at least on the local election front. Instead, his vote dropped by over a million votes and in the first round of voting he gained just 34.9 percent of the ballot. Voter complaints about being given incorrect ballots and mismatches between ballot totals and the number of people who signed up to vote also surfaced in San Diego. Of the 16,000 workers who participated in the ballot, 84.4 percent voted in favor of strike action. With less than 1 percent of ballot votes counted, the U.S.-backed Karzai is ahead with 56 percent of the vote. The union was unable to reveal the level of turnout for the ballot. In the ballot for industrial action a majority of 82 percent voted in favour of strike action. Ray predicted that violations would be rampant during both legislative and presidential elections and during the ballot counting. Debs won 897,000 votes on election day, 6 percent of the ballot before women had the right to vote. The demand to reopen the ballot box was sparked by a statement made by three councillors who witnessed the ballot counting. The turnout for the ballot was 68 per cent, and of those, the vote was 2,947 in favour of action and 2,246 against. In fact the ballot saw 57 per cent of tenants turn out to vote with 76 per cent voting ‘yes’ to the move. In our phone poll more than 80 per cent favoured postponing the ballot. The turnout from the ballot was reported to be extremely high, possibly up to 80%, with a result due on Friday. Punch cards have averaged a residual vote rate of 2.5 percent in presidential elections and 4.7 percent down the ballot. As of Tuesday morning, the party was still among the top six in the ballot counting, gaining 7.09% of the votes. Morales garnered 21 percent of the ballot to place a surprise second in the presidential race. Synonyms vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands 1.2 The piece of paper used to record a person's vote. there were fifty-three abstentions and twenty-eight spoilt ballots Example sentencesExamples A suspended election would involve extraordinary efforts to secure and protect ballots and voting systems. That is because of ‘chads’ on the punched ballot, or small pieces of paper left when the voter does not fully punch the paper. And with more than 11,000 electoral jurisdictions designing their own ballots and voting systems, all of our votes are in danger. To be counted, the ballot must be received at headquarters by Friday, September 6. The paper ballots will be checked at election offices while votes recorded in the machines will be examined at an army base. Which is worse: e-voting without a paper record or paper ballots? He defeated the National Awakening Party candidate by just one ballot. A manual count is a laborious process whereby each ballot is scrutinised individually by local electoral officials. Well look, you know, it is too late to fix these machines, but really we should be voting on paper ballots. With a postal ballot, community patriarchs can insist on inspecting the ballots before voting. That's not all - the party plans to use paper ballots rather than voting machines in order to keep down costs. Referendums and elections should be held with plain old paper ballots, marked by voters with a sturdy pencil. If a printer breaks, the voter is not allowed to cast a vote until the ballot is finished printing. Elections have been stolen and voters disenfranchised with paper ballots, too. Punch cards, the other paper-based system, loses at least 50 percent more votes than optically-scanned paper ballots. Those who find that they cannot vote electronically should proceed to the Feds office, where paper ballots will be made available. The election will be a postal ballot, with voting papers going out from 4 October. Of course, Mr Leslie may also wish to adopt the proven ‘inked finger’ security system to ensure the ballot's greater integrity. Democrats also had difficulty locating New York regiments in order to distribute ballots and collect the votes. The voting machines and paper ballots for said election shall carry the following designation, which shall be the title and submission clause. Synonyms vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands 1.3 A lottery held to decide the allocation of tickets, shares, or other things among a number of applicants. a ballot decides which investors will be successful in buying the stock Example sentencesExamples The Ticket Window random draw ballot for individual matches at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 is now complete. Maureen was one of 1,000 lucky people to have won tickets for the event in a competition ballot, and among an estimated 200 to have seen both events. Unfortunately being a member does not give you priority on home England matches anymore and you have to enter a ballot to get tickets for away matches. Since we also assume that demand will far outweigh the available allocation of tickets, we will perform a ballot on 31 January 2006 of all orders received. There are 70,000 tickets being allocated by ballot (in pairs). Sure, this would allow the organisers to ensure the maximum possible number of visitors to Germany during the World Cup period, but if that's the case it is not a completely fair ticket ballot. The Ticket Window, sometimes known as a ticket ballot or lottery, will give every applicant an equal chance of getting seats for individual matches. Now they are holding a ballot to decide which of the villains will win the dubious honour of having his or her effigy burned on a Guy Fawkes bonfire next month. Synonyms lottery, draw, prize draw, sweepstake, sweep, tombola verbballots, balloting, balloted ˈbalətˈbælət [with object] 1(of an organization) ask (members) to vote secretly on an issue. the union is preparing to ballot its members on industrial action Example sentencesExamples The drivers' union ASLEF is preparing to ballot its members for a 48-hour strike. They would then ballot their 11,000 members on such an offer. The union will ballot its nearly 500 members at First Bus on the offer. We are balloting members, and those votes will be counted tomorrow. The National Union of Journalists is preparing to ballot its members over a cull of staff at Express Newspapers that could see up to 13 jobs lost in Scotland. Union members are now being balloted on industrial action. The GMB union had threatened to ballot its 2,000 members at Warrington, Cheshire and Aylesford in Kent in a row over contracts of employment. The union accused employers of trying to make last-minute changes to the deal and warned that its 55,000 members could be balloted again for a fresh bout of industrial action. Although there are less than 1,000 clerical workers, all 8,000 of the union's members are being balloted. The PPTA is currently balloting its 14,400 members on government moves to take a 16-month dispute over pay and workloads into arbitration. Their members are being balloted for action and the result was expected on Friday of this week. ‘It could be we will ballot our IT members on possible industrial action,’ he told the paper. Last April's NUT annual conference unanimously voted to ballot members on a boycott of the SAT's. Unison members may also be balloted for strike action. Union members were balloted and voted for the one-day strike next Wednesday. Issues have been clarified and various unions expect to have balloted their members by the end of this week. The Teachers Union of Ireland is preparing to ballot its members on the offer. It said it was currently balloting members in headquarter areas for supportive industrial action, and was receiving a very positive response. At its annual conference in April, the National Union of Teachers voted to ballot its members on boycotting the testing of pupils at ages seven, 11 and 14 in England. Every time the members have been balloted they have come back more strongly in favour of action. Synonyms canvass, survey, ask, question, interview, ballot, sample 1.1no object Cast one's vote on an issue. with infinitive ambulance crews balloted unanimously to reject the deal Example sentencesExamples ‘In the absence of those assurances, we will have no choice but to ballot for industrial action,’ he said. It is vital that all the broadcasting unions move to ballot for action swiftly before the mood turns to resignation, they say. A mass meeting of over 500 Unison members held at the end of November voted unanimously to ballot for further action in support of the social workers. The cabin crews have balloted for industrial action and a massive ‘yes’ vote is expected. Ambulance workers in the West Midlands and Shropshire are set to ballot for strikes over the implementation of a new pay deal. This was the fourth time the workforce had been asked if they wanted to ballot for strike action. It was regrettable that the workers felt that they had been put into a corner where they had to ballot for industrial action. Teachers voted to ballot for industrial action yesterday after calling for reduced class sizes in Scotland. They voted unanimously to ballot to strike in defence of educational provision in the borough. Tomorrow morning a special Caucus meeting will be held to ballot for the new positions on the frontbench. The train drivers' union Aslef is also threatening to ballot for strikes in a separate dispute over pay. But if the Board maintains its present approach the union will be forced to ballot for protest action to protect services and jobs. Firefighters in York have voted unanimously to ballot for county-wide strike action in protest at the controversial sacking of a colleague. It would be equal to a political public beheading if your office denies access to ballot for SEP on the basis of any bureaucratic assault. Over 8,000 drivers, warehouse and support staff in Morrisons are to ballot for strike action. Unions are to ballot for industrial action from this week over fears that regional airports will not be able to survive on their own. Hundreds of striking Yorkshire miners are set to ballot for further industrial action, in a ground-breaking legal manoeuvre which could safeguard their jobs. On Friday of this week, Unison was set to announce whether it would ballot for a one day strike - possibly for 23 March. Cabin crew will ballot for industrial action this week. About 300 school caretakers and cleaners employed by Jarvis in Huddersfield and Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, are set to ballot for strikes over pay and conditions. 1.2 Decide the allocation of (something) to applicants by drawing lots. if the offer is oversubscribed acceptances will be balloted Example sentencesExamples If you're interested in 2 Arsenal tickets let me know - my husband and I balloted for tickets before we knew the fixture list. I balloted for tickets, did whatever I was asked to do to "increase my chances of getting tickets" but still - no tickets. The Junior concert has 'caught on' to such an extent that tickets will soon have to be balloted for. Origin Mid 16th century (originally denoting a small coloured ball placed in a container to register a vote): from Italian ballotta, diminutive of balla (see ball¹). ball from Middle English: The spherical ball dates from the early Middle Ages, and comes from an old Scandinavian word that was the ultimate root of Italian ballotta, from which English took ballot in the mid 16th century, and also of French ballon and Italian ballone ‘large ball’, one of which was the source of balloon. The ball at which people dance is unrelated. It came, in the early 17th century, from French, and goes back to Latin ballare ‘to dance’. This was also the source of ballad (Late Middle English) and ballet (mid 17th century). In America a ball game is a baseball match and a ballpark a baseball stadium. These have entered even British English in phrases such as a whole new ball game, ‘a completely new set of circumstances’, in the (right) ballpark, ‘a particular area or range’, and a ballpark figure (an approximate figure). The dancing sense has notably given us have a ball, meaning ‘enjoy yourself a lot’. This was originally an American expression of the 1930s, but is now used nearly everywhere that English is spoken. Testicles have been balls since the Middle Ages, but the slang sense ‘nonsense’ is Victorian. The meaning ‘courage, determination’ is more recent still, dating only from the 1950s. People often claim that the phrase cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey comes from a former naval custom of storing cannonballs on a brass rack or ‘monkey’. When the weather was very cold the rack could contract and eject the cannonballs. There are some severe problems with this explanation, though. First, cannonballs were stored on a wooden rack, not a brass one. Second, it would have to be extremely cold to cause sufficient contraction in the metal for this to happen. And third, the earliest recorded versions of the phrase (dating from the 19th century) feature noses and tails rather than balls, suggesting that the reference is to a brass statue of a monkey, and that the ‘balls’ are testicles rather than cannonballs. See also bollock, cob, evil Rhymes palate Definition of ballot in US English: ballot nounˈbælətˈbalət 1A process of voting, in writing and typically in secret. the commissioners were elected by ballot next year's primary ballot Example sentencesExamples Teachers in four other schools are to hold consultative strike ballots over the same issue. Last July, after negotiations failed to produce any progress, workers overwhelmingly voted in a union ballot to strike. In addition to pay, there are also strike ballots over safety, victimisation of union reps and other issues. There has been a strike ballot over the issue, which closes this week. After all the videos were played (All were really great!) the crowd voted by ballot. Britain's firefighters voted to hold a ballot for strike action today. Almost two out of three who voted in a preliminary ballot said they would strike over plans by Essex County Council to make the changes in September. Every district secretary, every regional secretary was elected by ballot. And residents will have to choose from a huge 15 nominations for councillor positions when they vote by ballot. Votes in a ballot for strike action are still being counted. Apart from some ‘legislators-at-large’, however, all the legislators were elected by ballot. Mental health workers in Manchester have voted for a strike ballot over cuts they claim will kill patients. Voting by ballot in Division elections shall be conducted by mail and shall include the option of electronic means as provided for by the Board of Directors. A person's membership may be revoked for cause, other than nonpayment of dues, by a two-thirds vote by ballot of the Board of Directors. Mixed feelings swell up inside me when I consider the issue of postal ballots in the local elections this year. While out of office, he campaigned for further reforms, including vote by ballot, household suffrage, and triennial parliaments, embarrassing the Whig ministers. The workers are to begin voting in a strike ballot on January 25, following their rejection of a proposed two-year wage deal from the company. Eurotunnel train drivers are to hold a strike ballot over the issue of trade union recognition, it was announced this week. The questions to be answered are selected by groups of practicing family physicians who vote through an online ballot. Four local newspaper chapels have now voted for strike ballots. Synonyms public vote, plebiscite, popular vote, poll 1.1the ballot The total number of votes cast in a ballot. he won 54 percent of the ballot Example sentencesExamples The turnout from the ballot was reported to be extremely high, possibly up to 80%, with a result due on Friday. With less than 1 percent of ballot votes counted, the U.S.-backed Karzai is ahead with 56 percent of the vote. Instead, his vote dropped by over a million votes and in the first round of voting he gained just 34.9 percent of the ballot. Of the 16,000 workers who participated in the ballot, 84.4 percent voted in favor of strike action. Debs won 897,000 votes on election day, 6 percent of the ballot before women had the right to vote. As of Tuesday morning, the party was still among the top six in the ballot counting, gaining 7.09% of the votes. The demand to reopen the ballot box was sparked by a statement made by three councillors who witnessed the ballot counting. Voter complaints about being given incorrect ballots and mismatches between ballot totals and the number of people who signed up to vote also surfaced in San Diego. At first glance the ballot results might suggest total failure for this Labour strategy - at least on the local election front. The nut has won the argument and now we need to maximise the turnout in the ballot. The turnout for the ballot was 68 per cent, and of those, the vote was 2,947 in favour of action and 2,246 against. There was a low turnout in the ballot with just 30 percent of teachers voting. Ray predicted that violations would be rampant during both legislative and presidential elections and during the ballot counting. Punch cards have averaged a residual vote rate of 2.5 percent in presidential elections and 4.7 percent down the ballot. In our phone poll more than 80 per cent favoured postponing the ballot. His vote share grew and in the Assembly elections he led the party in securing 45 per cent of the ballot. In the ballot for industrial action a majority of 82 percent voted in favour of strike action. The union was unable to reveal the level of turnout for the ballot. Morales garnered 21 percent of the ballot to place a surprise second in the presidential race. In fact the ballot saw 57 per cent of tenants turn out to vote with 76 per cent voting ‘yes’ to the move. Synonyms vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands 1.2 The piece of paper used to record someone's vote. Example sentencesExamples To be counted, the ballot must be received at headquarters by Friday, September 6. That is because of ‘chads’ on the punched ballot, or small pieces of paper left when the voter does not fully punch the paper. Elections have been stolen and voters disenfranchised with paper ballots, too. If a printer breaks, the voter is not allowed to cast a vote until the ballot is finished printing. He defeated the National Awakening Party candidate by just one ballot. The voting machines and paper ballots for said election shall carry the following designation, which shall be the title and submission clause. Well look, you know, it is too late to fix these machines, but really we should be voting on paper ballots. Of course, Mr Leslie may also wish to adopt the proven ‘inked finger’ security system to ensure the ballot's greater integrity. Democrats also had difficulty locating New York regiments in order to distribute ballots and collect the votes. Which is worse: e-voting without a paper record or paper ballots? That's not all - the party plans to use paper ballots rather than voting machines in order to keep down costs. Referendums and elections should be held with plain old paper ballots, marked by voters with a sturdy pencil. A suspended election would involve extraordinary efforts to secure and protect ballots and voting systems. With a postal ballot, community patriarchs can insist on inspecting the ballots before voting. Punch cards, the other paper-based system, loses at least 50 percent more votes than optically-scanned paper ballots. And with more than 11,000 electoral jurisdictions designing their own ballots and voting systems, all of our votes are in danger. Those who find that they cannot vote electronically should proceed to the Feds office, where paper ballots will be made available. A manual count is a laborious process whereby each ballot is scrutinised individually by local electoral officials. The paper ballots will be checked at election offices while votes recorded in the machines will be examined at an army base. The election will be a postal ballot, with voting papers going out from 4 October. Synonyms vote, poll, election, referendum, plebiscite, general election, local election, popular vote, straw poll, show of hands verbˈbælətˈbalət [with object] 1(of an organization) elicit a secret vote from (members) on a particular issue. the union is preparing to ballot its members on the same issue Example sentencesExamples Although there are less than 1,000 clerical workers, all 8,000 of the union's members are being balloted. The PPTA is currently balloting its 14,400 members on government moves to take a 16-month dispute over pay and workloads into arbitration. Every time the members have been balloted they have come back more strongly in favour of action. Their members are being balloted for action and the result was expected on Friday of this week. ‘It could be we will ballot our IT members on possible industrial action,’ he told the paper. Union members were balloted and voted for the one-day strike next Wednesday. Last April's NUT annual conference unanimously voted to ballot members on a boycott of the SAT's. Unison members may also be balloted for strike action. Union members are now being balloted on industrial action. The drivers' union ASLEF is preparing to ballot its members for a 48-hour strike. It said it was currently balloting members in headquarter areas for supportive industrial action, and was receiving a very positive response. The union will ballot its nearly 500 members at First Bus on the offer. Issues have been clarified and various unions expect to have balloted their members by the end of this week. They would then ballot their 11,000 members on such an offer. The GMB union had threatened to ballot its 2,000 members at Warrington, Cheshire and Aylesford in Kent in a row over contracts of employment. The National Union of Journalists is preparing to ballot its members over a cull of staff at Express Newspapers that could see up to 13 jobs lost in Scotland. We are balloting members, and those votes will be counted tomorrow. The union accused employers of trying to make last-minute changes to the deal and warned that its 55,000 members could be balloted again for a fresh bout of industrial action. At its annual conference in April, the National Union of Teachers voted to ballot its members on boycotting the testing of pupils at ages seven, 11 and 14 in England. The Teachers Union of Ireland is preparing to ballot its members on the offer. Synonyms canvass, survey, ask, question, interview, ballot, sample 1.1no object Cast one's vote on a particular issue. ambulance crews balloted unanimously to reject the deal Example sentencesExamples A mass meeting of over 500 Unison members held at the end of November voted unanimously to ballot for further action in support of the social workers. Cabin crew will ballot for industrial action this week. Unions are to ballot for industrial action from this week over fears that regional airports will not be able to survive on their own. Tomorrow morning a special Caucus meeting will be held to ballot for the new positions on the frontbench. ‘In the absence of those assurances, we will have no choice but to ballot for industrial action,’ he said. Ambulance workers in the West Midlands and Shropshire are set to ballot for strikes over the implementation of a new pay deal. Firefighters in York have voted unanimously to ballot for county-wide strike action in protest at the controversial sacking of a colleague. Over 8,000 drivers, warehouse and support staff in Morrisons are to ballot for strike action. This was the fourth time the workforce had been asked if they wanted to ballot for strike action. It would be equal to a political public beheading if your office denies access to ballot for SEP on the basis of any bureaucratic assault. The train drivers' union Aslef is also threatening to ballot for strikes in a separate dispute over pay. It was regrettable that the workers felt that they had been put into a corner where they had to ballot for industrial action. On Friday of this week, Unison was set to announce whether it would ballot for a one day strike - possibly for 23 March. Teachers voted to ballot for industrial action yesterday after calling for reduced class sizes in Scotland. Hundreds of striking Yorkshire miners are set to ballot for further industrial action, in a ground-breaking legal manoeuvre which could safeguard their jobs. They voted unanimously to ballot to strike in defence of educational provision in the borough. About 300 school caretakers and cleaners employed by Jarvis in Huddersfield and Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, are set to ballot for strikes over pay and conditions. The cabin crews have balloted for industrial action and a massive ‘yes’ vote is expected. It is vital that all the broadcasting unions move to ballot for action swiftly before the mood turns to resignation, they say. But if the Board maintains its present approach the union will be forced to ballot for protest action to protect services and jobs. 1.2 Decide the allocation of (something) to applicants by drawing lots. Example sentencesExamples I balloted for tickets, did whatever I was asked to do to "increase my chances of getting tickets" but still - no tickets. The Junior concert has 'caught on' to such an extent that tickets will soon have to be balloted for. If you're interested in 2 Arsenal tickets let me know - my husband and I balloted for tickets before we knew the fixture list. Origin Mid 16th century (originally denoting a small colored ball placed in a container to register a vote): from Italian ballotta, diminutive of balla (see ball).
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