Actual existence in county (vote denied) (4)
I believe the answer is:
esse
'actual existence' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'county vote denied' is the wordplay.
'county' becomes 'essex' (English county).
'vote' becomes 'x' (how votes are marked).
'denied' is a deletion indicator.
'essex' with 'x' removed is 'ESSE'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for esse that I've seen before include "Dried fruit" , "Actual existence" , "Reality" , "Essential nature (philosophy)" , "Fundamental nature (philosophy)" .)