nonvoter

noun

non·​vot·​er ˌnän-ˈvō-tər How to pronounce nonvoter (audio)
plural nonvoters
: a person who fails or chooses not to vote or does not have the legal right to vote
A mere 37 percent of the eligible electorate voted in the 1986 Congressional elections, the vast majority of nonvoters arguably casting ballots of no confidence.Richard Caplan

Examples of nonvoter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In Atlanta, dislike for President Trump spurs a chronic nonvoter to the polls. Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2020 Michelle Obama blamed nonvoters, not Republicans, for President Trump's election in 2016. Madison Dibble, Washington Examiner, 4 May 2020 Registered voters were considerably more likely than nonvoters to give the federal government’s handling of the crisis a bad review, according to the CNN poll. Giovanni Russonello, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Apr. 2020 To be sure, this dismissal had little in common with the disaffection of nonvoters or partisan disdain. Wired, 22 Sep. 2019 See All Example Sentences for nonvoter

Word History

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nonvoter was in 1851

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Cite this Entry

“Nonvoter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonvoter. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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