secret ballot
AmericanEtymology
Origin of secret ballot
First recorded in 1910–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a sign of the pressures around the issue, the proposal was voted on by secret ballot, a relatively uncommon procedure at the gathering, with nearly 75 percent of votes against.
From Barron's • Nov. 27, 2025
There's speculation aplenty as to which MPs, in the secret ballot, didn't back Merz on the first round - and why.
From BBC • May 6, 2025
The conclave is a gathering of 120 cardinals who hold a secret ballot in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2025
But if that effort fell short on a secret ballot, he’d suffer an embarrassing setback to his stature just when it’s at a new peak.
From Slate • Nov. 11, 2024
There they will choose a leader for themselves by secret ballot in a free election.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
