Crossword Genius

After vote, none cut figures, like important figures, in the spring (6,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pollen count

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spring' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'after vote none cut figures like important figures in the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'vote' could be 'poll' (polling is a kind of voting) and 'poll' is located in the answer.
'none' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for pollen count that I've seen is " Number that's of interest to hay fever sufferers".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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