to go to the polls

35 3.0

To vote in an election

phrasal verb

Literature

: ir a votar

The way that our people express their opinions is they go to the polls and they vote.
go to the polls and vote
voters went to the polls
go to the polls to elect

Episodically, people get fed up and they go to the polls and they demand a change, hopefully before it's too late.

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Examples

And the issue motivated record numbers of people to go to the polls.

Academic text (2011)
The reason we lost is that not enough of us went to the polls.

Blog text (5)
Next Tuesday, you will all go to the polls and make a decision.

Reagan (2024)
I am up and getting ready to go to the polls this morning.

Blog text (7)
Two weeks later, he went to the polls and cast his vote for Lincoln.

Academic text (2011)
On November sixth, I am going to the polls to vote for an American for President.

Blog text (12)
So this year, when you go to the polls, remember to vote Mayor Tracy.

Slice (2018)
The British general election Last week, British voters went to the polls for the third time in five years to cast their vote on who should rule the nation.
However, despite concerns with voter apathy, more than 68 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.

Academic text (1992)
Next Tuesday, you will all go to the polls and make a decision.

Synonyms

to vote

vsto go to the polls

∞ 1.0

To show your choice in an election or poll

involves actively taking part in an election by formally submitting a ballot

to cast

vsto go to the polls

159 5.3

To officially give a vote in an election

refers specifically to participating in an election by submitting a ballot

to cast your vote

vsto go to the polls

19 3.1

Give your choice in an election or official decision

focuses on taking part in an election rather than any decision process

to poll

vsto go to the polls

6 3.2

To cast a vote in an election

focuses on participation in the election rather than the place of voting

Antonyms

to stay home

336 1.0

Be at home and not go out

to abstain

Formal

16 5.6

To choose not to vote in a meeting or election

Surface Forms

go to the polls infinitive

went to the polls past

gone to the polls past participle

going to the polls present participle

goes to the polls third person singular

Morphology

go + to + the + polls

The meaning 'to participate in an election by casting a vote' is directly and compositionally derived from 'go' (move to) plus 'polls' (voting site), with 'to the' marking direction toward that location. This is a literal, cross-linguistically common construction that a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily understand.

Etymology

Go to the polls comes from the old practice of people going to a place called the polls, where votes were put into boxes or written on lists. So it now means 'to vote' or 'to take part in an election'.