ballot
noun
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Definition of ballot
(Entry 1 of 2)
ballot
verbDefinition of ballot (Entry 2 of 2)
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Examples of ballot in a Sentence
Noun
They cast their votes in a secret ballot. She was elected by secret ballot.Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The probe shows a decline in votes on electronic voting machines in 101 out of 159 Georgia counties, even when paper ballots did not reflect any disparity. — Ellen Mcgirt, Fortune, "A Lesson in Leadership From the U.S. Open: raceAhead," 3 Sep. 2019 Ideally, new voting machines would produce some version of a paper ballot, implement post-election audits and scrutinize vendors for conflicts of interest. — NBC News, "Voting machine issues and viral video cast shadow on Mississippi governor's race," 29 Aug. 2019 After the primary’s votes were tallied Tuesday night, Frethem won 41 percent of ballots cast, compared with Jessup’s 34 percent. — Tad Vezner, Twin Cities, "Frethem, Jessup are top 2 vote-getters in primary for vacated Ramsey County Board seat," 13 Aug. 2019 Idleburg won by 137 votes out of more than 245,000 ballots cast. — Rick Pearson, chicagotribune.com, "Days after giving up on a recount for reelection, former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran to seek GOP nomination for U.S. Senate," 7 Aug. 2019 Advocates and voters are currently suing to force Georgia to immediately adopt paper ballots. — Alex Pareene, The New Republic, "The Simple, Odious Reason Mitch McConnell Opposes Election Integrity," 31 July 2019 One measure would require the use of paper ballots and include funding for the Election Assistance Commission, an independent and bipartisan commission that assists with federal election administration. — Billy Kobin, The Courier-Journal, "AOC to Mitch McConnell: You're not a commie, just a bad leader," 30 July 2019 Jackson garnered the most votes, named on 21 percent of the more than 1,700 ballots cast in online voting that began Monday and ended Thursday. — Josh Bean | [email protected], al, "Iconic Alabama and Auburn greats picked for Mt. Rushmore of Birmingham HS football," 26 July 2019 In June, the House backed legislation that would mandate verifiable paper ballots and upgrade voting equipment with $600 million in grants, among other measures. — Hannah Knowles, The Denver Post, "House intelligence chairman says he learned of Senate campaign hack at security forum in Aspen," 21 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
McCarron won the Maxwell Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting for the 2013 season. — Mark Inabinett | [email protected], al, "Injury endangers AJ McCarron’s preseason availability for Texans," 7 Aug. 2019 McCarron won the Maxwell Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting for the 2013 season. — Mark Inabinett | [email protected], al, "Injury endangers AJ McCarron’s preseason availability for Texans," 7 Aug. 2019 At issue is the impending approval or veto of Senate Bill 27, the latest effort by Democratic legislators to link a presidential hopeful’s tax transparency to ballot access. — Los Angeles Times, "Newsletter: Those seeking access to Trump’s tax returns now wait for Gov. Gavin Newsom," 29 July 2019 Ohio State’s Chase Young and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor were chosen as the preseason defensive and offensive players of the years in balloting from 34 media members conducted by cleveland.com. — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com, "Ohio State’s Chase Young, Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor named 2019 Big Ten preseason players of the year," 17 July 2019 The first stage of the process begins on Thursday, when Conservative Party lawmakers start balloting to draw up a shortlist of two candidates, one of whom will eventually be chosen in voting by around 150,000 members of the party. — Stephen Castle, New York Times, "Boris Johnson Emerges to Face Reporters’ Questions. Six of Them.," 12 June 2019 The absences of Harper, a six-time All-Star, and Machado, a four-time All-Star, in the NL's starting lineup were neither surprising - as both finished outside the top three in balloting to reach the finals - nor outrageous. — Dave Sheinin, courant.com, "With All-Star Game starters, who didn’t make cut is as notable as who did," 28 June 2019 The top three in balloting at each position - nine in the outfield - will vie for starting roles in a second round of balloting. — Henry Schulman, SFChronicle.com, "A’s manager Bob Melvin returns a day after procedure to alleviate neck pain," 21 June 2019 His 15 home runs entering Monday ranked second to Mike Trout, who opened balloting with nearly 1 million votes, more than any other AL player. — Maria Torres, latimes.com, "Tommy La Stella’s numbers ‘out of nowhere’ spark All-Star ballot love," 10 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ballot.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for ballot
ballot
nounFinancial Definition of ballot
What It Is
A ballot reflects a shareholder's vote on a corporate decision.
How It Works
Most corporations have an annual shareholders meeting in which shareholders come to listen to presentations by the company's management and to vote on key issues, such as whether to merge with another company, whether to re-elect certain board members, and other issues. Shareholders cast their votes via ballots. Ballots are traditionally on paper, but some companies allow shareholders to cast their ballots via phone or the Internet.
A proxy is a person, agency, or entity authorized to act on behalf of another person, agency or entity. In the finance world, proxy most often refers to an entity authorized to vote on behalf of a shareholder. It also commonly refers to Securities and Exchange Commission Form 14-A (the "proxy statement"), which is the document containing the actual voting ballot and disclosing information related to management compensation and matters on which to vote. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to file proxy statements annually prior to the companies' annual shareholder meetings; the objective is to inform shareholders of the meeting, what matters are up for a vote, and instructions for voting.
Why It Matters
Ballots are how shareholders vote. Shareholders are the owners of companies, and they have the ultimate say in what a company decides, who serves on the board of directors, and whether to sell the company.
In many cases, shareholders don't actually receive a ballot in the mail if they own shares indirectly, as is the case with mutual funds (in that situation, shareholders own shares of the mutual fund rather than shares of the underlying companies the mutual fund invests in). Investors who hold shares in street name (that is, the shares are registered to the investor's brokerage firm rather than in his or her own name) might also not receive ballots. In these cases, the fund manager or brokerage firm is the actual shareholder in the eyes of the company, and they receive the ballot and can vote the shares. These people are responsible for voting the shares in the best interest of their investors, and in many cases, a mutual fund is a sizeable shareholder -- its vote may have a significant impact on the company.
Source: Investing Answers
ballot
noun
English Language Learners Definition of ballot
(Entry 1 of 2)