Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Democracy depends on counting votes fairly, not just voting.
In plain terms
Counting votes fairly matters more than voting itself.
What can you take from it?
Ensure fair vote counting to protect democracy.

Where it applies

  • elections
  • governance
  • policy making

Putting it to work

  • audit voting systems
  • protect counting mechanisms

Questions to consider

  • How do you ensure fair counting?
  • Is voting enough?

Another view

Voting itself is also essential for democratic legitimacy.

More from Tom Stoppard

  1. It was precisely this notion of infinite series which in the sixth century BC led the Greek philosopher Zeno to conclude that since an arrow shot towards a tar…

    Permalink to quote #9
  2. How the hell do I know what I find incredible? Credibility is an expanding field... Sheer disbelief hardly registers on the face before the head is nodding wit…

    Permalink to quote #11
  3. There is presumably a calendar date - a moment - when the onus of proof passed from the atheist to the believer, when, quite suddenly, secretly, the noes had i…

    Permalink to quote #8

Related quotes

  1. Votes should be weighed not counted.

    Friedrich von SchillerFriedrich von Schiller quote #142
  2. Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

    Reinhold NiebuhrReinhold Niebuhr quote #1
  3. Having fought most of my life against apartheid - and of course my parents were imprisoned during the struggle - I am thrilled by the way South Africa has deve…

    Peter HainPeter Hain quote #1