tactical voting

noun

1. (in an election) the practice of casting one's vote not for the party of one's choice but for the second strongest contender in order to defeat the likeliest winner

Example Sentences

Even if National Rally qualifies for the second round in a large number of constituencies, voters could choose to adopt “le vote utile” - tactical voting - to keep the party out.

From BBC

It just goes to show there are lots of different possible numbers you can point to to support a message of tactical voting - and parties will pick whichever suits them.

From BBC

This is about tactical voting: for instance, the Liberal Democrats trying to get Labour voters or Green voters to back them to get the Conservatives out, or vice versa.

From BBC

One of the contributing factors to Blair’s landslide victory in 1997 came from so-called tactical voting, whereby some voters put aside their political preference and vote for whoever has the best chance of defeating the party they oppose the most.

From Seattle Times

Tactical voting has reemerged and was evident somewhat in Thursday’s elections where Conservative candidates lost out to other parties, not just Labour, but also to the centrist Liberal Democrats and also to the Green Party.

From Seattle Times