American voters cast their election ballots in South Dakota in the 2020 presidential election, in South Dakota, on November 3. Photo: AP
Opinion
Opinion
Language Matters
‘Polls’ and ‘ballots’ are the talk of the US election, but where do the words come from?
- ‘Poll’ used to refer to visible part of a head in a crowd, before morphing to mean a person on a list
- ‘Ballot’ comes from the Venetian for ‘little balls’, in black, white and gold, used to cast a vote
American voters cast their election ballots in South Dakota in the 2020 presidential election, in South Dakota, on November 3. Photo: AP
