to bullet vote

8.9

To give all your votes to one candidate instead of spreading them among others

phrasal verb

Jargon

: voto en bloque

Strategic voters may choose to bullet vote to maximize their preferred candidate's chances of winning.

Examples

She bullet voted rather than spreading her votes among several candidates on the ballot.
In this election, many participants are expected to bullet vote for their top choice only.
You should bullet vote to maximize your influence!
Many voters bullet voted in the recent election.
In this election, many participants are expected to bullet vote for their top choice only.
Strategic voters may choose to bullet vote to maximize their preferred candidate's chances of winning.
She bullet voted rather than spreading her votes among several candidates on the ballot.

Surface Forms

bullet vote infinitive

bullet voted past

bullet voted past participle

bullet voting present participle

bullet votes third person singular

Morphology

bullet + vote

The sense is specialized electoral jargon about concentrating votes in cumulative or multi-member elections and is not directly derivable from the literal meanings of 'bullet' (a projectile) and 'vote' (a ballot). The use of 'bullet' is metaphorical/jargonial (meaning concentrated or focused voting) and would not be obvious to a B1 learner who knows the constituents but has not seen the term, so it is opaque.

Etymology

The verb bullet vote may come from the image of treating each bullet as one of your votes and firing them all at one vote, like aiming every shot at a single candidate. That's why it means 'to give all your votes to one candidate'.