Popular Quotations About Voters and Voting

The American voting process brings out both boons and lampoons, as writers and speakers of all stripes express their opinions on the vote. From campaigning quests to comic quips, quotations abound on the subject of voting.

Here's a diverse dozen quotations about voting and voters. Although not all of the writers and speakers are American or even contemporary, their statements may seem current.

Some of these quotations on voting endorse the election process and plead for voting participation. Other comments sarcastically state opposition to the vote.

The assortment is offered here to spark thought, invite healthy debate and encourage interest in the democratic process.

(Quotes are arranged alphabetically by speaker or author.)

In the lack of judgment
great harm arises,
but one vote cast
can set right a house.
Aeschylus
Greek Poet
(525 BC - 456 BC)

"Women, we might as well be
dogs baying the moon
as petitioners
without the right to vote!"
Susan B. Anthony
American Civil Rights Activist
(1820 - 1906)

"Vote early,
and vote often."
Al Capone
American Gangster
(1899 - 1947)

"If you're listening to a rock star
in order to get your information
on who to vote for,
you're a bigger moron than they are."
Alice Cooper
American Rocker
(1948 - )

"Those who stay away
from the election
think that one vote
will do no good:
'Tis but one step more
to think one vote
will do no harm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Philosopher
and Author
(1803 -1882)

"Hell, I never vote for anybody.
I always vote against."
W. C. Fields
American Comedian
(1880 - 1946)

"To make democracy work,
we must be a nation of participants,
not simply observers.
One who does not vote
has no right to complain."
Louis L'Amour
American Author
(1908 - 1988)

"If God had wanted us to vote,
He would have given us candidates."
Jay Leno
American Comedian
(1950 - )

"Voting is a right best exercised
by people who have taken time
to learn about the issues."
Tony Snow
American Journalist
(1955 - 2008)

"The people who cast the votes
don't decide an election,
the people who count the votes do."
Joseph Stalin
Russian Dictator
(1879 - 1953)