The phrase "an initial vote" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to the first vote taken in a series of votes or a preliminary voting process.
Example: "The committee held an initial vote to determine the direction of the project before proceeding with further discussions."
Alternatives: "a preliminary vote" or "an opening vote".
For example, in 2009, the Affordable Care Act took nearly five months to reach an initial vote in the House.
The proposed $2.8 billion purchase of the Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation by Univision Communications has been approved in an initial vote by the Republican majority of the Federal Communications Commission, agency officials said yesterday.
Another 22 days is set aside for an initial vote, in which the Republican majority is likely to reject the deal, and then a second vote, over which there is a presidential veto.
The City Council is expected to take an initial vote on Wednesday on applications for the renovation of four marine transfer stations where, under the mayor's plan, household trash would be squeezed into large shipping containers and loaded onto barges.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Monday evening that he would not force an initial vote on the resolution on Wednesday, slowing Senate consideration until at least next week.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Monday evening that he would not take the procedural steps to force an initial vote on authorization of force Wednesday, slowing Senate consideration of the resolution.
Still, Boehner came within a few votes of failing to secure his speakership on the initial vote, an outcome that would have forced a second ballot for the first time in nearly a century.
Bruce and city officials disputed, even before the election, as to whether his measure would apply to the city's Stormwater Enterprise Fee; and after threatening to launch a ballot initiative to cut property taxes after an initial 5-4 vote by the city council over two years, the city council then voted 5-4 to phase out the authority immediately.
Strange got a "Trump bump" in the initial vote, said Vince Gawronski, a professor of political science at Birmingham-Southern College In Alabama.
Still, Mrs. Clinton has not backed away from her initial vote, a stand that has helped her avoid the sort of flip-flopping charges leveled by Republicans at Senator John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign, even as it has complicated her effort to distance herself from criticism that she was a war supporter.
The nation's largest union conglomerate predicted on Wednesday that it has the enthusiasm and momentum to defeat Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark). in the runoff primary in Arkansas, calling the inability of the two-term incumbent to win Tuesday's initial vote a "real condemnation".
