ballot box

noun

1

: a box for receiving ballots

2

: ballot sense 2a

Phrases

stuff the ballot box

chiefly US

: to attempt to control the outcome of an election by having multiple illegitimate votes cast in support of the desired candidate

They said the vote-rigging included stuffing ballot boxes, buying votes and absent names on the voter rolls.

—Sonia Verma

By a margin of just 277 votes (some say ballot boxes were stuffed), Brooklyn, the nation's fourth-largest city, had voted to give up its proud and independent history.

—James Sterngold

Examples of ballot box in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tillis, one of the most vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection in 2026, suggested to Greer that the administration has until February next year to fix the economy before voters will punish Republicans at the ballot box. —Christopher Cann, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025

Proposition 36 went into effect in December after a landslide victory at the ballot box. —Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 7 Apr. 2025

What keeps him optimistic, Kass, 67, of Boynton Beach said, is seeing the protesting crowds and Republicans losing at the ballot box in smaller elections since November. —Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 5 Apr. 2025

But the social media age restriction passed with bipartisan support and stands to be implemented no matter who triumphs at the ballot box. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ballot box

• aftershocks
• chatterbox
• equinox
• goldilocks
• hollyhocks
• interlocks
• orthodox
• paradox
• tomahawks
• balks
• blocks
• blocs