Proper sign used for initial stages of public voting (9)

I believe the answer is:

primaries

'for initial stages of public voting' is the definition.
(as in primary elections)

'proper sign' is the wordplay.
'proper' becomes 'prim' (similar in meaning).
'sign' becomes 'aries' (star sign).
'prim'+'aries'='PRIMARIES'

'used' is the link.

(Another definition for primaries that I've seen is " schools".)

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