Quotes and Sayings about Elections
"Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody."
- Franklin P. Adams
(Related: Men, Women, People, Elections, Vote)
"Where annual elections end where slavery begins."
- John Quincy Adams
(Related: Elections, End, Slavery)
"Taiwan is a budding democracy, and the people have participated in multi-party democratic elections since 1996."
- Todd Akin
(Related: People, Democracy, Elections)
"The labour Party has lost the last four elections. If they lose another, they get to keep the liberal party."
- Clive Anderson
(Related: Elections, Liberal, Party)
"I understand personally that it is frustrating to lose presidential elections by narrow margins."
- James Baker
(Related: Elections)
"The mainstream media may have trouble resisting the temptation to declare that Karl Rove has been demoted, but the truth is quite the contrary. By giving up his role as deputy White House chief of staff, Rove has been freed to do what he does best: shape big issues and develop strategies to win elections."
- Fred Barnes
(Related: Truth, Elections, Giving, May, Media, Temptation, Trouble)
"I am planning to return and contest the October elections in Pakistan."
- Benazir Bhutto
(Related: Elections, October, Planning)
"I am constitutionally competent to contest the elections."
- Benazir Bhutto
(Related: Elections)
"Especially in local elections, because hardly anybody pays attention to those - but it's really important who's mayor and who's on the city council, county commissioners, sheriffs, district attorney, and of course the school board."
- Jello Biafra
(Related: Attention, Elections, School)
"We've got 50 percent voter turnout for presidential elections. That's appalling. We can do so much better."
- Joan Blades
(Related: Elections)
"I find it odd that there's such strong objection to what is a clear way to assure that our elections are reliable and we can do a recount if there are any questions."
- Joan Blades
(Related: Elections, Questions)
"These endless legal challenges that define elections in New York are a joke in this country, and they are the reason why it is so expensive, or one of the reasons, it's so expensive to run here and why so many people decide not to run."
- Michael Bloomberg
(Related: Legal, People, Country, Elections, Reason)
"I want to step up our voter-registration activities. Not every branch does it, and not all the time. I want them to go back and get out the vote because I want us to have a big impact on the Congressional elections this year."
- Julian Bond
(Related: Time, Elections, Vote, Want)
"Look, Congress has allocated more money to finance the upcoming Iraqi elections than it has for the American elections. There's something wrong with that."
- Donna Brazile
(Related: Finance, Money, American, Congress, Elections, Wrong)
"It is certainly not unrealistic to think we could have elections by mid-year 2004 and when a sovereign government is installed - my job here will be done."
- Paul Bremer
(Related: Government, Elections, Job, Will)
"Demand the ballot as the undeniable right of every man who is called to the poll, and take special care that the old constitutional rule and principle, by which majorities alone shall decide in Parliamentary elections, shall not be violated."
- John Bright
(Related: Care, Elections, Man, Old, Right)
"Men seek for vocabularies that are reflections of reality. To this end, they must develop vocabularies that are selections of reality. And any selection of reality must, in certain circumstances, function as a deflection of reality."
- Kenneth Burke
(Related: Men, Circumstances, End, Reality)
"They appear to have had a higher voter turnout in Iraq than we did in our recent federal elections, and we didn't have terrorists threatening to kill our families if we voted."
- Conrad Burns
(Related: Elections, Iraq)
"When we look around the world today, when we see in Afghanistan that 10 million people have registered to vote in their upcoming elections, including 40 percent of those people are women, that's just unbelievable."
- Laura Bush
(Related: Women, People, Afghanistan, Elections, Today, Vote, World)
"The candidates before you know that the IFP has set up a system of deployed IFP national and provincial leaders who are not only monitoring the performance of candidates during these elections but will also do so after these elections."
- Mangosuthu Buthelezi
(Related: Performance, Elections, Leaders, Will)
"Elections are also about the future - the pledges that we are making for this country. For those who care about equality and fairness in the UK, and beyond, Labour really is the only choice."
- Anne Campbell
(Related: Equality, Care, Choice, Country, Elections, Future)
"Several amendments should be made to the primary and general election laws to improve them, but such changes must in no way interfere with a full and free expression of the people's choice in naming the candidates to be voted on at general elections."
- Arthur Capper
(Related: People, Choice, Elections, Expression, Laws)
"I was up late last night yapping about the elections on CNN and up early this morning doing the same thing in my daughter's kindergarten class."
- Tucker Carlson
(Related: Daughter, Class, Elections, Night)
"The view that we hold in Iraq now is this - that democracy is associated with elections. I believe that elections are possible."
- Ahmed Chalabi
(Related: Democracy, Elections, Iraq, Now)
"Do not seek to find a reason why elections are not possible. Seek to make them possible, and they will be possible."
- Ahmed Chalabi
(Related: Elections, Reason, Will)
"No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections."
- Winston Churchill
(Related: Education, Elections, Fighting)
"I learned more about elections on election night 2000 than I ever did during my 16 years of schooling."
- Rob Corddry
(Related: Elections, Night, Years)
"We must correct the problems and inequities in the way we conduct and decide elections in the United States."
- Tom Daschle
(Related: Elections, Problems, states, United)
"You talk about the values that you have whether they're in favor or not in favor. That's how you lead. The reality is, we're losing more and more elections."
- Artur Davis
(Related: Values, Elections, Losing, Reality, Talk)
"The way we're going to win elections in this country is not to become Republican lite. The way we're going to win elections in this country is to stand up for what we believe in."
- Howard Dean
(Related: Country, Elections, Republican)
"But they are not going to take on Big Oil because Big Oil is very generous at campaign time, and this is all about the elections. They want to pretend that they are doing something meaningful."
- Peter DeFazio
(Related: Time, Elections, Oil, Want)
"Federal elections happen every two years in this country. Presidential elections every four years. And four years just isn't long enough to dismantle all the environmental laws we've got in this country."
- Jared Diamond
(Related: Environmental, Country, Elections, Laws, Years)
"I don't think we can go into important local elections next year... with Tony Blair as leader and expect to keep many of the councillors we've got now."
- Frank Dobson
(Related: Leader, Elections, Now)
"As we have always seen here in the U.S. the universal truth about elections is that people vote their pocketbook."
- Jennifer Dunn
(Related: Truth, People, Elections, Vote)
"When it comes to federal elections law, Tom DeLay and his special-interest friends live by one set of rules, and everyone else lives by a very different set."
- Rahm Emanuel
(Related: Delay, Elections, Friends, Law, Rules)
"However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone."
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan
(Related: Democracy, Elections, Existence)
"The U.S. views Morocco as an important friend, and we applaud your political and economic reforms that culminated with the recent parliamentary elections that were widely reported to have been conducted in a fair and open manner."
- Donald Evans
(Related: Friend, Elections, Open)
"Lebanon is restless, Syria got its walking papers, Egypt is scheduling elections with more than one candidate, and even Saudi Arabia, whose rulers are perhaps more terrified of women than rulers anywhere else in the world, allowed limited municipal elections."
- Suzanne Fields
(Related: Women, Elections, Walking, World)
"The participation in European elections was always not very exciting. People are very interested in European issues, but they don't see the person who is representing Europe."
- Joschka Fischer
(Related: People, Elections, Europe, Participation)
"Just two weeks ago, millions of Iraqis defied the threats of terrorists and went to the polls to determine their own future. I congratulate the Iraqi people for the courage they've shown in making these elections so successful."
- Bill Frist
(Related: People, Successful, Courage, Elections, Future)
"While not widely reported, our victories in Iraq are plentiful. National elections, a democratic parliament and the drafting of a constitution are just some of the victories throughout this embattled country."
- Paul Gillmor
(Related: Constitution, Country, Elections, Iraq, Parliament)
"That U.N. Security Council resolution requires getting Syrian troops and intelligence officials out of Lebanon so that the Lebanese can have elections here this spring that are free and fair and free of outside influence."
- Stephen Hadley
(Related: Intelligence, Elections, Influence, Resolution, Security, Spring, Troops)
"We hope and we've made clear that the forces need to come out. It needs to be full and complete withdrawal. Our position is it needs to be done as soon as possible so that the elections can be free, fair and free of outside influence."
- Stephen Hadley
(Related: Hope, Elections, Influence, Needs)
"The big secret to winning elections is to get more votes than your opponent. My friend Representative Robin Hayes is a good example to study."
- Jesse Helms
(Related: Friend, Winning, Elections, Example, Study)
"There's enormous progressive activism and, more often than not, success at the grassroots level - everything from living wage campaigns to efforts to finance our elections are having terrific success."
- Jim Hightower
(Related: Finance, Success, Activism, Elections, Living, Wage)
"I think the American people have been surprised by the enthusiasm with which the Iraqis have taken to elections and politics."
- Duncan Hunter
(Related: Politics, People, Enthusiasm, American, Elections)
"There are elections in which everyone knows that 'the people have spoken' but they don't always know exactly what the people have said. This November's election was different. Not only did the people speak, they spoke clearly."
- Kay Bailey Hutchison
(Related: People, Elections)
"Tony Blair - good thing there are not parliamentary elections in this country."
- Gwen Ifill
(Related: Country, Elections)
"I have to say that elections, even in the most peaceful region, always make the hardest time for regional state institutions, including security structures."
- Akhmad Kadyrov
(Related: Time, Elections, Security, State)
"I know that elections must be limited only to those who understand that the Arabs are the deadly enemy of the Jewish state, who would bring on us a slow Auschwitz - not with gas, but with knives and hatchets."
- Meir Kahane
(Related: Elections, Enemy, State)
"We have seen voters denied their rights in recent elections as they have been incorrectly purged from lists, their absentee votes not counted, and voting machine integrity and security not assured."
- Marcy Kaptur
(Related: Elections, Rights, Integrity, Machine, Security, Voting)
"I think that it's a vital moment now for Russian democracy to convince people that it's only our actions, our joined actions and protests that could force Kremlin to reconsider its plans to abolish presidential elections."
- Garry Kasparov
(Related: People, Actions, Democracy, Elections, Force, Now)
"The winner of the elections which saw the participation of almsot 30 million people was the Iranian nation and the losers were those who tried to keep people away from the polls."
- Ayatollah Khamenei
(Related: People, Elections, Nation, Participation)
"Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it adds up."
- Barbara Kingsolver
(Related: Work, Elections)
"Elections are about choosing sides, but inaugurations are about closing ranks."
- Ted Kulongoski
(Related: Elections)
"Iraqis have held elections and have recently put together their government, all encouraging developments."
- James A. Leach
(Related: Government, Encouraging, Elections)
"The last two elections were stolen. They were stolen and so we will not rest until we reclaim our democracy and this is what today is all about."
- Barbara Lee
(Related: Democracy, Elections, Rest, Today, Will)
"Elections are held to delude the populace into believing that they are participating in government."
- Gerald F. Lieberman
(Related: Government, Elections)
"In just three years, Iraq has achieved immense progress. It has had three successful elections in which 80% of their citizens voted, even while being threatened with death."
- John Linder
(Related: Death, Successful, Progress, Being, Elections, Iraq, Years)
"Maintain democracy or go to dictatorship: that is what is at stake in these elections."
- Mario Vargas Llosa
(Related: Democracy, Elections)
"Despite elections and the experience of post-Soviet personal freedoms by the Russian people, the fate of democracy in Russia is perhaps more ambiguous now than at any time since the collapse of the Communist system."
- Richard Lugar
(Related: Experience, Time, People, Democracy, Elections, Fate, Now, Post, Russia)
"I think the Democratic Party realizes, having lost two presidential elections, we need to do a better job of creating a farm team."
- John Mahoney
(Related: Elections, Job, Party)
"If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers."
- Nelson Mandela
(Related: America, Elections, states, United, Want)
"Votes in federal elections are cast and counted in a highly decentralized and variable fashion, with no uniform ballots and few national standards."
- Thomas E. Mann
(Related: Elections, Fashion)
"America is an outlier in the world of democracies when it comes to the structure and conduct of elections."
- Thomas E. Mann
(Related: America, Elections, World)
"Some of the immediate causes of Jack Abramoff's troubles were some Indian elections that went bad for him."
- Joshua Micah Marshall
(Related: Causes, Elections)
"Until fighting ends and there are conditions, which allow the free expression of will by the people, there can be no elections and elections are not held in these circumstances anywhere in the world."
- Aslan Maskhadov
(Related: People, Circumstances, Elections, Expression, Fighting, Will, World)
"In November 2000, the Republicans stole from America our most precious right of all: the right to free and fair elections... Now President Bush occupies the White House, but with questionable legitimacy."
- Cynthia McKinney
(Related: America, Elections, Now, President, Republicans, Right)
"Democracy in China is like Viagra; no such thing as free elections."
- George Montgomery
(Related: Democracy, Elections)
"I'm convinced that unless you have some public financing of elections, you are never going to remove the power of wealthy interests over elected officials."
- Dick Murphy
(Related: Power, Elections, Public)
"In the span of three years, the Iraqi people participated in three elections, drafted a constitution, and elected a new government. While more work remains, this is remarkable progress."
- Tim Murphy
(Related: Work, Government, People, Progress, Constitution, Elections, Remarkable, Years)
"All elections revolve around and are often resolved by who raises the most money. That's unfair. I'd like to see that process changed, but it seems once you win and get to Congress, that doesn't happen."
- John Murray
(Related: Money, Congress, Elections)
"Well my briefing was that Honduras was a small and vulnerable country just back on the path towards democracy it was about to have just before I arrived, the first elections for a civilian president in more than 9 years."
- John Negroponte
(Related: Country, Democracy, Elections, First, President, Years)
"To the contrary, I think we bent over backwards to press for elections and for democratic reform."
- John Negroponte
(Related: Elections, Press, Reform)
"Those of us who actually were working in the region at the time will point out how strongly committed we were to supporting the democratic process and encouraging elections, in spite of the fact that a war was going on in several of these countries."
- John Negroponte
(Related: Time, War, Encouraging, Countries, Elections, Fact, Will)
"Voters want to know that elections will be conducted fairly and accurately."
- Bill Nelson
(Related: Elections, Want, Will)
"In New York, we had primary elections for mayor. To improve their chances, all five candidates changed their name to Rudy Giuliani."
- Conan O'Brien
(Related: Elections, Name)
"Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?"
- Robert Orben
(Related: Elections, Feeling, Reason, Right)
"As recent as the year 2000 we won elections by saying we shouldn't be the policemen of the world, and that we should be nation building. And its time we got those values back into this country."
- Ron Paul
(Related: Time, Values, Building, Country, Elections, Nation, Saying, World)
"Well the truth is, Republicans didn't just lose a few elections, we lost our way."
- Mike Pence
(Related: Truth, Elections, Republicans)
"Requiring valid, photographic identification is a common sense step to ensure voter integrity and sound elections."
- Sonny Perdue
(Related: Common sense, Elections, Integrity, Sound)
"The House is rooted in the principle of direct elections and is unique among all branches and bodies of the federal government as without exception, the people's voice."
- Charles W. Pickering
(Related: Government, People, Elections, Voice)
"I think the elections have gone well, although there is so much insecurity in Iraq. So far during the counting of ballots, there has not been a significant complaint. We have to wait to see what the outcome of the counting is."
- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
(Related: Complaint, Elections, Insecurity, Iraq)
"I ask you: turn a deaf ear to the special interests. Let politics stand down for a while. don't waste anytime thinking about future elections until we've done our jobs here."
- Bob Riley
(Related: Politics, Elections, Future, Jobs, Thinking, Waste)
"It is difficult to understand these people who democratically take part in elections and a referendum, but are then incapable of democratically accepting the will of the people."
- Jose Saramago
(Related: People, Elections, Will)
"To be fair, lying is part and parcel of public life. Every politician has lied about something because they are owned by the special interest groups that finance their elections."
- Peter Schuyler
(Related: Finance, Life, Elections, Interest, Lying, Public)
"The Iraqi elections were an important first step."
- Brent Scowcroft
(Related: Elections, First)
"Saddam's ouster will not necessarily lead to the same result, since Iraq lacks democratic traditions. Democracy doesn't just consist of holding elections."
- Brent Scowcroft
(Related: Democracy, Elections, Iraq, Result, Traditions, Will)
"The elections that have taken place in these countries are a reflection of the lure of Democracy, and the resilience of our men and women in uniform who helped bring freedom to many who never knew what the word truly meant."
- Jim Sensenbrenner
(Related: Men, Women, Countries, Democracy, Elections, Freedom, Reflection, Word)
"I was there during the first elections in South Africa. I watched them take down the apartheid flag and raise the new flag."
- Al Sharpton
(Related: Elections, First)
"The way it works: The orchestra plays a few selections of its own and I terminate the first part of the programme on piano, usually with a movement from a Mozart concerto."
- George Shearing
(Related: First)
"Zhvania was the general secretary of the organisation which I founded, the Citizens' Union. It was the biggest organisation and came first in all elections, and Zhvania was the leader."
- Eduard Shevardnadze
(Related: Leader, Elections, First)
"There's no question that Stalin broke the agreements made at Yalta completely about elections that were supposed to be held immediately in Poland, and Eastern Europe was plunged into slavery as a consequence."
- Mark Shields
(Related: Elections, Europe, Question, Slavery)
"I'm not overly alarmist about it, but I do think there are some worrying signs, like the growing accumulation of wealth by a very small proportion of the population, plus elections in the US are much more dominated by money than anywhere else calling itself a democracy."
- Peter Singer
(Related: Money, Wealth, Democracy, Elections, Population)
"When religious leaders get involved in elections, it is usually with a reactionary social agenda."
- Elizabeth Joan Smith
(Related: Elections, Leaders, Religious)
"Elections should be held on April 16th- the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders."
- Thomas Sowell
(Related: April, Being, Day, Elections, Income, Politicians, Taxes)
"South Australia was the first community to give the secret ballot for political elections."
- Catherine Helen Spence
(Related: Community, Elections, First)
"Our elections are free, it's in the results where eventually we pay."
- Bill Stern
(Related: Elections, Results)
"The elections in Iraq are a victory for freedom and the Iraqi people, and a blow to the transnational network of terrorists who have tried to prevent this day from happening."
- James Talent
(Related: People, Victory, Day, Elections, Freedom, Iraq, Network)
"Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates."
- Gore Vidal
(Related: Democracy, Elections)
"The United Nations has no business in our elections."
- David Vitter
(Related: Business, Elections, Nations, United)
"Well, one thing that has happened is they have had a presidential election in Egypt which has represented progress. Now, we were not happy with everything that happened with the parliamentary elections, and it was not exactly a perfect presidential election in Egypt."
- Roger Wicker
(Related: Progress, Elections, Now)
"The regime is afraid of the people because it knows that free and fair elections will bring about its end."
- Viktor Yushchenko
(Related: People, Elections, End, Will)