A woman votes on Nov. 8, 2016 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)
We at BillMoyers.com hope you will make it out to your polling place — and if you need any info about where it is or who you’ll see on the ballot when you get there, check out the League of Women Voters’ Vote411 website, where you can type in your address and learn everything you need to know. Remember that it’s not just about the top of the ticket: Many of the policies that most directly impact our lives are decided in state houses and by our local city councils.
Voting takes time, and can be daunting. In some states, politicians have tried hard in recent years to make sure it isn’t easy for everyone to make their voice heard. So to help inspire you to go cast that ballot, we’ve been tweeting out some quotes about the importance of participating in our democracy from historic figures and present-day thinkers we follow, and a few from essays Bill Moyers has broadcast in the days before recent elections. We’ll add to this list over the course of the day.
Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #VotingMatters — or comment below.
“Democracy is a beautiful idea but a rough practice.” — Bill Moyers on why #VotingMatters https://t.co/ZV29pF3JW6
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights. — Thomas Jefferson
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 6, 2016
You either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard’s vote. —David Foster Wallace
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 6, 2016
Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves -FDR https://t.co/lJxeykWsFo
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 5, 2016
“The voting booth is the one place in America where everyone is equal.” — Gloria Steinem https://t.co/n3CMtNUY3j
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 7, 2016
The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice. — LBJ https://t.co/F2wtCQxkFw
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 7, 2016
Give us the ballot, and we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights. — MLK https://t.co/nO5ckQFB4V
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 7, 2016
“If democracy works, the gov’t in some sense is you + your neighbors + if it’s not, that’s the fight to have.” https://t.co/qqHrCB4msM
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
“There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” — Susan B. Anthony #votingmatters
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone.” — President John Quincy Adams https://t.co/hZCUzclSfm #VotingMatters
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
“Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.”
— @NaomiAKlein— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. — FDR
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried —Winston Churchill
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” — Abraham Lincoln https://t.co/Sucb9Jhsht
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 7, 2016
“It will be quiet on Tuesday. No speeches. No political ads. It’s a very special day, just for grown-ups.” https://t.co/5KUIX5h0Tw #vote
— BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) Nov. 8, 2016
