Alexey Arbatov Quotes

In Russia we are not fighting to win elections. We are fighting to have elections.

The whole thing about elections in Liberia - it's not about the way you take care of people, it's not about the heart, it's about education, according to the perception of some people.

The way to address our grievances is to engage in that most revolutionary of activities—voting.

If Voting Changed Anything, They’d Abolish It

If the voters vote for the same old thing, they are going to get the same old thing. If they want change, they are going to have to vote for change.

You damned fools. You can either vote for me for mayor or you can go to hell

I didn’t understand. In a democracy, the people have to be entertained.

The best way to build a house is not from the top, but from the bottom. When you go to the polls, vote from the bottom up.

Take it from me: Elections matter.

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.

As an American citizen, one has to vote. If we don't vote, we're not doing our part. We'll become some sort of oligarchy.

When politics is interesting, people go vote.

Well, I couldn't do the day-to-day stuff of being a politician or anything, but I just think everybody should have an opinion and everybody should vote, and that's what we're built on.

I don't vote. I don't do no voting.

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.

Voting is a civic sacrament.

The only way to change is to vote. People are responsible.

We must care more about bloodless revolutions called elections than about who wins the elections.

The right to vote freely for the candidate of one’s choice is of the essence of a democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government

Although elections are not perfect tools for democracy, they reinforce the relationship between the people and their leaders, empowering citizens to remove and replace their governments in a peaceful and orderly manner. The only basis for a peaceful society is providing people with the opportunity to express their opinions and their will, and elections are instrumental in doing so.

I hold the opinion that it is lawful [for a Muslim] to participate in elections [in non-Islamic countries], as this may reduce suffering, and it is a way to choose the better among the available candidates. I believe participating in elections will, in any event, contribute to the reduction of evil and be a forum for countering bad policies and exposing their deficiencies, as well as being an opportunity to present proposals of a different kind that may help people.

Democracy doesn't mean electing a dictator every five years.

Elections alone will never be enough to ensure good governance.

I hope we can use television somehow to begin to reengage people in this conversation of democracy.

I still believe with Adlai Stevenson that you can win elections by talking sense to the American people.