casting vote

noun

1. the deciding vote of the presiding officer of a deliberative body, made when the other votes are equally divided.

casting vote

noun

1. the deciding vote used by the presiding officer of an assembly when votes cast on both sides are equal in number

Word History and Origins

Origin of casting vote¹

First recorded in 1685–95

Example Sentences

That person, a Canadian citizen and legal resident, pleaded guilty in 2024 to three misdemeanor counts of casting votes in the primary and general 2016 elections.

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That reached record levels in the 2022 federal election, with one in three Australians casting votes for candidates outside the two major parties.

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And many members of the Senate in recent days said they wanted to know more about his ethics investigation before casting votes, an objective that ensured a messy confirmation hearing.

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Voters there will also be casting votes for the state’s eleven members of congress and one of its two senators.

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They won’t have the casting vote through; this will be a piece of nationally designated infrastructure.

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