quotations about voting
Voting is sometimes regarded as the last resord to be relied on when the opinions of the decision makers are mutually incompatible. In this view, the lack of consensus between the decision makers is the sole reason for voting and, moreover, consensus is always preferable to decisions reached through voting. Although at first sight plausible, this view overlooks the way in which consensus is reached. If it is reached through violence, ridicule or threat, then it is of questionable moral value. Thus it is not necessarily the case that unanimity would always be preferable to a disagreement. Even in cases where one's opinions are at variance with those of a vast majority, one may attach great value to the possibility of expressing them in voting.
HANNU NURMI
Voting Paradoxes and How to Deal with Them
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament.
VLADIMIR LENIN
The State and Revolution
It does not matter which way you vote. Either way your planet is doomed. Doomed. Doomed!
KANG
"Treehouse of Horror VII", The Simpsons
Have you ever stopped to ponder the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed, the degree of pain and anguish endured, the number of noble men and women lost in battle so that we as individuals might have a say in governing our country? Honor the lives sacrificed for your freedoms. Vote.
RICHELLE E. GOODRICH
Smile Anyway
Voting is arguably one of the least-effective ways for a single individual to communicate political preferences.
INEZ FELTSCHER
"The Founders Didn't Want DC To Be A State, And Neither Does This DC Resident", The Federalist, April 24, 2017
You know, the idea that you have to wait on line for eight hours to cast your ballot in Florida -- there's something the matter with that. You think people can work all day and then pick up their kids at child care or wherever, and get home and then ... still manage to sandwich in an eight-hour vote? ... We ought to make voting easier to do.
HOWARD DEAN
speech, June 2, 2005
The wider the array of people who vote, the better the beliefs of the people will be represented.
KELLY PUSHIE
"Democracy Matters ponders Trump-era voting rights", The Miscellany News, April 5, 2017
But what about voting and elections? Civil disobedience--we don't need that much of it, we are told, because we can go through the electoral system. And by now we should have learned, but maybe we haven't, for we grew up with the notion that the voting booth is a sacred place, almost like a confessional. You walk into the voting booth and you come out and they snap your picture and then put it in the papers with a beatific smile on your face. You've just voted; that is democracy. But if you even read what the political scientists say--although who can?--about the voting process, you find that the voting process is a sham. Totalitarian states love voting. You get people to the polls and they register their approval. I know there is a difference--they have one party and we have two parties. We have one more party than they have, you see.
HOWARD ZINN
Voices of a People's History of the United States
Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.
H. L. MENCKEN
attributed, Balderdash: A Treatise on Ethics
I don't think voting is the end, but rather the beginning, of political participation. Voting is a 'gateway drug' to political engagement. Now, more than ever, is a time to engage, not just with voting, but by contacting representatives, joining political organizations, contributing, volunteering, demonstrating and maybe even running for office.
SEAN MCELWEE
lecture, "Voting Rights in the Age of Trump", March 29, 2017
If voting changed anything they'd abolish it.
KEN LIVINGSTON
If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It
If I were to vote, I would intentionally vote for the goofiest candidate. It is my theory that when the people can outwit the leader, the more respected their voices will be.
CRISS JAMI
Killosophy
The drawback in voting for the man of your choice is that he is seldom a candidate.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting.
TOM STOPPARD
Jumpers
Voting is more than casting a ballot, it is also an essential part of American democracy. It is raising your voice to say "yes" to better opportunities for your family, "yes" to better resources for law enforcement training, and "yes" to healthy communities.
DIANE KINCAID
"A vote for all is a vote for safety", Lincoln Journal Star, April 22, 2017
Give a loaded revolver to an infant and a vote to an ignorant man.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
Not voting is itself a democratic decision.
ALLAN SAXE
"Dallas Has the Worst Voters in the Entire Country", D Magazine, April 25, 2017
Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens.
HOWARD ZINN
The Progressive, March 2008
Suppose that half of the registered electorate abstains. Things take a serious turn for the voters and for the government established by them. Without question, the political skepticism of fully one half of the body of society will cause a crisis in the unchallenged convictions of the other half. And if we consider that such skepticism will be the product of a calculated, well-founded, considered indifference, and that it will be the fruit of intellect or liberty ... you can readily appreciate the defeat that such a state of affairs will inflict upon governmentalism.
ANSELME BELLEGARRIGUE
Anarchist Manifesto