abstain from voting in an election

/əbˈsteɪn frəm ˈvəʊtɪŋ ɪn ən ɪˈlekʃən/

verb phrase

  1. To deliberately choose not to vote in an election.

    B1

    abstain from + gerundformal

    • "Some citizens abstain from voting because they do not support any candidate."B1
    • "Voters may abstain from voting as a form of political protest."C1

Common mistakes

  • abstain to vote→abstain from voting

    Use from followed by a gerund, not to followed by the base verb.

Collocations

abstain from votingabstain from casting a votevoter turnoutpolitical protest

Word family

abstainabstentionabstainer