(DOD photo)
It is one of the most sacred responsibilities we have as Americans. It is the time of year when all of us – regardless of income, stature, heritage or gender – are exactly equal. It is the manifestation of “We The People.” It is what distinguishes us as a free republic. The simple application of this one, solemn right is so easy that it can seem trival, yet so important that the liberties and way of life of hundreds of millions of people throughout the country depend on it.
You don’t have to take me word for it. Take theirs.
Samuel Adams
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country. [Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907), Vol. IV, p. 256, in the Boston Gazette on April 16, 1781.](from Kevin Clarkson)
Alexander Hamilton
A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law.
[Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Harold C. Syrett, ed. (New York, Columbia University Press, 1962), Vol III, pp. 544-545.](from Kevin Clarkson)
John Quincy Adams
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” John Quincy Adams
George Washington
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
Get out there. Go vote.
