“If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It”

— Ken Livingstone

Title of his autobiography (1987) A variant of a slightly earlier quote: "If voting could change anything, it would be illegal" ( 1978 https://books.google.com/books?id=RPgcAQAAMAAJ&q=%22if+voting+could+change+anything%22&dq=%22if+voting+could+change+anything%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg4IDksJHMAhVPxWMKHc7sBikQ6AEIJTAC) Variant: If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ken Livingstone42

Mayor of London between 2000 and 2008 1945

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“If voting changed anything, it would be made illegal”

Emma Goldman (1868–1940) anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches

Variants: "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." "If voting changed anything it would be illegal." "If voting made a difference it would be illegal." "If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it." - also incorrectly attributed to American humorist Mark Twain or American peace activist Philip Berrigan.. Although often attributed to Goldman, there is no evidence that she made this statement. The earliest known example of this quote is from a 1976 newspaper opinion piece: "If voting could change anything, it would be made illegal". Disputed Source: Snopes.com - Election Dissection http://www.snopes.com/mark-twain-voting-quote/ Source: Borden, Robert S., "Voting is Dishonest and Fraudulent" https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5211342/if_voting_could_change_anything_it/, The Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts), 1976-09-24, p. 7

“The English never abolish anything. They put it in cold storage.”

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English mathematician and philosopher

Source: Attributed from posthumous publications, Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead (1954), Ch. 36, January 19, 1945.

“The definition of throwing your vote away is to go into that voting booth and vote for one of two parties that will not change the direction this country's going in.”

Bob Barr (1948) Republican and Libertarian politician

Concord Monitor, (22 July 2008) Libertarian appeals to decisive voters http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/FRONTPAGE/807230305, Concord Monitor, 22 July 2008. 2000s, 2008

“I, on the other hand, deny that the Constitution guarantees the right to hold property in man, and believe that the way to abolish slavery in America is to vote such men into power as well use their powers for the abolition”

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman

1860s, The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery? (1860)
Context: I, on the other hand, deny that the Constitution guarantees the right to hold property in man, and believe that the way to abolish slavery in America is to vote such men into power as well use their powers for the abolition of slavery. This is the issue plainly stated, and you shall judge between us.

“In any group endeavour, there are practical and effective, or impractical and ineffective, ways to manage a complex system. Impractical, frustrating, and time-consuming systems are those governed by large boards, assemblies, or groups (seven or more people). These "meetings" have a chairperson, agendas, proposals, votes, or use consensus, and can go on for hours. Consensus, in particular, is an endless and pointless affair, with coercion of the often silent or incoherent abstainer by a vociferous minority. Thus, decisions reached by boards, parliaments, and consensus groups either oppress some individuals (votes) or are vetoed by dissenters. In either case, we have tyranny of a majority or tyranny of a minority, and a great deal of frustration and wasted time. The way to abolish such systems is to have one meeting where the sole agenda is to vote to abolish decision meetings -- this is usually carried unanimously -- and another where a consensus is reached to abolish consensus -- this too shouldn't take long.”

Bill Mollison (1928–2016) Australian permaculturist

Source: Permaculture: A Designers' Manual (1988), chapter 14.10

“Consensus politics means that you cannot afford to give the many-headed beast, the public, anything to vote against, for voting against is what gargantuan pseudodemocracy has to come down to.”

Germaine Greer (1939) Australian feminist author

"The Big Tease" (October 1972), p. 138
The Madwoman's Underclothes (1986)

“Our message to the perverts who voted for them [Sinn Féin] is that they will not get anything through this council.”

Sammy Wilson (1953) British politician

Andersonstown News (March 5, 1988)

“I mean, it's impossible to fake anything if you've already seen the other person in a way they'd never choose for you to. You can't go back from that.”

Sarah Dessen book What Happened to Goodbye

Source: What Happened to Goodbye

“As a nation, we need to work to make voting as accessible as possible. No American citizen should have to struggle to vote. Implementing changes like automatic voter registration strengthen our democracy.”

Tulsi Gabbard (1981) U.S. Representative from Hawaii's 2nd congressional district

Twitter account, February 2019

“It is virtually impossible for what you are voting on to remain as it is currently. There could be huge changes to the [EU fiscal] treaty and there could be huge changes to the euro zone itself.”

Nigel Farage (1964) British politician and former commodity broker

Interview in the Irish Times newspaper, 17 May 2012. Anti-treaty campaign claims single currency may collapse http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0517/1224316240473.html 2012

“If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It”

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