disenfranchise
/ˌdɪsɪnˈfran(t)ʃʌɪz
/ /ˌdɪsɛnˈfran(t)ʃʌɪz/(also disfranchise)
verb [with object]
1Deprive (someone) of the right to vote: the law disenfranchised some 3,000 voters on the basis of a residence qualification...
- But vote groups are concerned asking people for more information could disenfranchise legitimate voters on election day.
- There has also been much criticism of holding the vote midweek, which meant many students were disenfranchised from casting their vote.
- The North's new Electoral Fraud Act may disenfranchise some voters in the run-up to the Assembly elections, according to the parties there.
1.1Deprive (someone) of a right or privilege: we strongly oppose any measure which would disenfranchise people from access to legal advice...
- Throughout the postwar era, desperate and disenfranchised young people in developing countries sought solace in communism.
- It was not to deprive, to disenfranchise people.
- The working people are politically disenfranchised.
1.2 archaic Deprive (a place) of the right to send a representative to Parliament.The problem had become one of fossilized and self-perpetuating rights: the crown could create new boroughs in both senses, but rarely chose to disfranchise those old boroughs which had ceased to be important....
- The huge sum of £15,000 was paid in compensation when the two parliamentary seats were disfranchised.
1.3 archaic Deprive (someone) of the rights and privileges of a free inhabitant of a borough, city, or country.Are you happy for our legislative to have free rein to disenfranchise you of your rights?...
- To date the drug war has focused primarily on inner cities and the politically disenfranchised minorities who live there.
- When Pennsylvania's Constitution was revised in 1838 to disfranchise free black men in the name of expanding white manhood suffrage, young black male reformers leapt forward to challenge it.