Refrained from voting (9)
I believe the answer is:
abstained
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">refrained from voting</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for abstained that I've seen before include "chose not to vote" , "kept dry" , "went on the wagon" , "was non-committal" , "avoided port?" .)