Definition of voting
Pronunciation
Verb
voting
- Present participle of vote.
Adjective
voting (not comparable)
- (finance) Having an associated right for the holder to vote as an owner of business.
The cumulative voting preferred stock remains voting until all cumulative dividends are paid.
Noun
voting (plural votings)
- action of the verb to vote
Derived terms
Further reading
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion-often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns.
Process of voting
Representative democracies discern the will of the people by a common voting procedure:
- Individual voter registration and qualification,
- Opening the election for a set time period,
- Registration of voters at established voting locations,
- Distribution of ballots with preset candidates, issues, and choices (including the write-in option in some cases),
- Selection of preferred choices (often in secret, called a secret ballot),
- Secure collection of ballots for unbiased counting, and
- Proclamation of the will of the voters as the will of the people for their government.
Reasons for voting
In a representative democracy, voting commonly implies election: a way for an electorate to select among candidates for office. In politics voting is the method by which the electorate of a democracy appoints representatives in its government.
A vote is an individual's act of voting, by which he or she expresses support or preference for a certain motion (for example, a proposed resolution), a certain candidate, a selection of candidates, or a political party. With a secret ballot to protect voters' political privacy, voting generally takes place at a polling station. The act of voting is voluntary in some countries; whereas some countries, such as Argentina, Australia, Belgium and Brazil, have compulsory voting systems.
References:
- Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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