short ballot

American  

noun

1. a ballot containing only candidates for the most important legislative and executive posts, leaving judicial and lesser administrative posts to be filled by appointment.

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Etymology

Origin of short ballot

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

short ballot

Do you have a long ballot or a short ballot in your county or town?

From Community Civics and Rural Life by Arthur William Dunn

They sometimes combine the short ballot with the initiative, referendum and recall though they are utterly at variance.

From Ethics in Service by William H. Taft

The essential features of the short ballot plan are as follows: Popular elections should be resorted to only for the purpose of choosing those officials who have to do with public policies.

From Problems in American Democracy by Thames Ross Williamson

A splendid account by the father of the short ballot movement.

From The Boss and the Machine; a chronicle of the politicians and party organization by Samuel Peter Orth

The platform endorsed such political reforms as woman suffrage, direct primaries, the initiative, referendum, and recall, popular election of United States Senators, and the short ballot.

From History of the United States by Charles A. (Charles Austin) Beard