Etymology

put one's name in the hat

Today it means: To run in an election or to nominate oneself for consideration in some other selection process; to nominate someone other than oneself for such consideration. Full definition →

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The story

From the informal practice of putting ballots into a hat, and then drawing a single ballot from the hat at random to decide the winner. When one put one's own name on a ballot in the hat, one would therefore be eligible to win.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.