abstain
verb
[ əbˈsteɪn ]
• restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something.
• "she intends to abstain from sex before marriage"
• formally decline to vote either for or against a proposal or motion.
• "forty-one voted with the Opposition, and some sixty more abstained"
Similar:
not vote,
decline/refuse to vote,
sit on the fence,
Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French abstenir, from Latin abstinere, from ab- ‘from’ + tenere ‘hold’.
