vote (redirected from votes down)

abstain from voting

to choose not to vote either for or against a proposition or nominee. I will have to abstain from voting since I cannot make up my mind.

See also: abstain

cast one's vote

to vote; to place one's ballot in the ballot box. The citizens cast their votes for president. The wait in line to cast one's vote was almost an hour.

See also: cast

vote (up)on someone or something

to make a decision about someone or something by ballot. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) The committee decided to vote on it. Are we going to vote on this?

vote someone or something down

to defeat someone or something in an election. The community voted the proposal down. They voted down the proposal.

vote someone into something and vote someone in

to elect someone to office or to membership in a group. The other party finally voted a candidate into office. The people voted in the new officers.

vote someone on(to something)

to elect someone to something, such as a board. Let's vote Christine onto the board. We voted Dave on last term.

vote someone out of something and vote someone out

to remove one from office by defeating one in an election. They voted her out of office. The electorate voted out a number of incumbents.

See also: out

vote something into law and vote something in

to take a vote on a proposal and make it a law. They voted the proposal into law. If we vote in this proposal, will that solve everything?

See also: law

vote something through

to get something through a set of procedures by voting in favor of it. They were not able to vote the bill through. They voted through the bill.

See also: through

vote a split ticket

Fig. to cast a ballot on which one's votes are divided between two or more parties. I always vote a split ticket since I detest both parties. Mary voted a split ticket for the first time in her life.

See also: split, ticket

vote a straight ticket

Fig. to cast a ballot on which all one's votes are for members of the same political party. I'm not a member of any political party, so I never vote a straight ticket. I usually vote a straight ticket because I believe in the principles of one party and not in the other's.

See also: straight, ticket

vote against someone or something

to cast a ballot against someone or something. Are you going to vote against the provision? I plan to vote against David.

See also: against

vote for someone or something

to cast a ballot in favor of someone or something. Did you vote for Alice? I plan to vote for the tax freeze. Of course, I voted for myself! Wouldn't you?

vote of confidence

Fig. a poll taken to discover whether or not a person, party, etc., still has the majority's support. The government easily won the vote of confidence called for by the opposition. The president of the club resigned when one of the members called for a vote of confidence in his leadership.

See also: confidence

vote of thanks

Fig. a speech expressing appreciation and thanks to a speaker, lecturer, organizer, etc., and inviting the audience to applaud. John gave a vote of thanks to Professor Jones for his talk. Mary was given a vote of thanks for organizing the dance.

See also: thanks

vote with one's feet

Fig. to express one's dissatisfaction with something by leaving, especially by walking away. I think that the play is a total flop. Most of the audience voted with its feet during the second act. I am prepared to vote with my feet if the meeting appears to be a waste of time.

See also: feet

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like turkeys voting for (an early) Christmas  (British & Australian humorous)

if people are like turkeys voting for Christmas, they choose to accept a situation which will have very bad results for them

Usage notes: Turkeys are large birds which are often eaten on Christmas Day.

Teachers agreeing to even larger class sizes would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

See also: Christmas, like, turkey

vote with your feet

to show that you do not support something, especially an organization or a product, by not using or not buying it any more Parents are voting with their feet and moving their children to schools where there is better discipline.

See also: feet