straw vote

noun

Definition of straw vote

: an unofficial vote taken (as at a chance gathering) to indicate the relative strength of opposing candidates or issues

— called also straw poll

Examples of straw vote in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The council voted against the idea 6to3 earlier in the budget process, and had a 5-to-4 straw vote last week in favor of continuing several storm water projects that were in mid-design but had been halted. — Jennifer Barrios, Washington Post, "Montgomery Council adds legal aid for immigrant defense to proposed budget," 22 May 2018 Acceding to legal advice, the Broward County Charter Review Commission has moved from putting an assault weapons ban on the ballot in November to putting a straw vote on the question on the ballot. — Dan Sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Readers applaud Broward's move to give them a vote to ban assault weapons — if they can agree what an assault weapon is," 19 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'straw vote.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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The first known use of straw vote was in 1866

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