ballot box
- noun
- /ˈbælət bɑks/
- Policy is made here the same way as in the civilized world: at the ballot box.
- stuffing a ballot box
- vote in the ballot box
- peeks into the ballot box
But, yeah, I don't understand why it should be the case that people only make themselves heard at the ballot box once every four years or something like that.
- But, yeah, I don't understand why it should be the case that people only make themselves heard at the ballot box once every four years or something like that.
- Because the message coming out of Egypt today is that if you believe in politics informed by Islam, don't bother with the ballot box.
- Stuffing of ballot boxes, all on tape, government tape.
- And I'm going to say so at the ballot box or no.
- Of course, a lot of ballot boxes.
- I don't believe in the in the in the in the mob rule because soon the ballot box turns into a guillotine.
- They had their assets stuffing ballot boxes, using mafia muscle to shut down opposition meetings.
- No, I don't think that's Russian propaganda, but maybe it explains why we speak of ballot boxes.
- And, you know, both at the, at the ballot box in a more meaningful way than we have it now and in the workplace.
- And so if Americans were to say through the ballot box, we don't want this, we understand what it is, we don't want this, we can turn this side.
Examples
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My job was basically to watch the ballot boxes and this was for the early voting in Georgia.
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If laws are broken, then fight at the ballot box or in the courts.
Blog text (6) -
The Catholic vote at the ballot box.
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The Workers Party witnessed a similar fate at the ballot box.
Academic text (1993) -
The ballots and other election documents are then sealed in the ballot box and delivered to the returning officer.
Blog text (4) -
Also, remember when you're in a polling place, you fill out your ballot and you then deposit it directly into the ballot box.
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"Our preparation is education; our strength lies in our unity; our battleground is the ballot box."
Academic text (1991) -
Let us march on the ballot boxes until the Wallaces of our nation tremble away in silence.
Fiction book (2000) -
There were serious grounds to believe that many ballot boxes had been tampered with and, by extension, that the entire election was tainted.
Academic text (2006) -
When you arrive at the polling station, make sure to place your completed ballot in the ballot box.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'ballot' (voting paper) + 'box' (container): together they denote a container for ballots. This simple compositional pattern is common in English and mirrored cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Ballot box: The noun ballot box comes from the simple image of people putting their folded paper ballot into a locked box so their choice stayed secret. Because the box keeps the 'votes' safe until counting, today ballot box means the sealed box used in elections.