abstention from voting on a referendum

noun phrase

  1. The choice not to vote in a referendum, rather than voting for or against the proposal.

    B1

    uncountableformal

    • "Her abstention from voting on the referendum was a personal choice."B1
    • "Many citizens chose abstention from voting on the referendum due to lack of information."B1
    • "High abstention from voting in the referendum made the result less representative of the whole population."B2
    • "The report examined whether abstention from voting on the referendum reflected political disillusionment."C1

Common mistakes

  • abstention to vote→abstention from voting

    Use abstention from + gerund, not abstention to + infinitive.

Collocations

abstain from votingabstention from votingvoter abstentionreferendum turnoutlow voter turnoutvoting on a referendum

Word family

abstainabstentionabstainer