abstention as a protest

/əbˈstenʃən æz ə ˈproʊtɛst/

noun phrase

  1. The act of deliberately choosing not to vote or participate in a decision-making process as a way to express disagreement or disapproval.

    B2

    usually uncountableformal; political

    • "Several members used abstention as a protest against the new rules."B1
    • "By treating abstention as a protest, the opposition sought to challenge the legitimacy of the decision without voting against it directly."C1

Collocations

abstention as a protestabstain from votingvoting abstentionpolitical protestsilent protestshow opposition

Word family

abstainabstentionabstainerprotestprotester