preselection

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The process by which a candidate for public office is selected, usually by a political party

   “The preselection in Mr Costello's Victorian seat of Higgins will start in April, when he will have to reveal whether he will stand for another term.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Selection in advance

   “Suddenly, the doctor and the geneticist have have become active partners in the creation of human life through artificial insemination, sex preselection, test-tube babies, host mothers, recombinant DNA technology, […]”

   “After automated particle preselection, manual verification, and selection by cross-correlation, 18,801 particles were chosen for the vacant 40S subunit, 20,939 particles for the IRES-40S complex, and 13,613 particles for the IRES dII-40S complex.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The preference for a mate found attractive by other members of one's sex.
4. (countable, uncountable)The process of a jury selecting entries to be shown in a competition when there are too many entries for the audience or schedule. The term preselection is often used with the opposite meaning in demoscene context, i.e. selecting entries not to be shown.

   “In compos which are potentially crammed like the music compos, preselection is a necessary evil. [...] 15-16 songs [...] are thus chosen to be played to the audience.”

   “Every entry will be released [...], unless it was preselected/disqualified, or the competition was canceled.”