"No place in the world is as private as the American voting booth. There, more than anywhere else, the citizen is all alone with his conscience. And everyone who has voted has had the experience of a conscience gnawing. The hand goes to pull a lever or mark a square on a paper ballot, and conscience asks: Do you really know anything about this man? Is he qualified for the office he is seeking? For that matter, do you know anything about the party to which he belongs? Does his party, in general, stand for the same things you do? And if you can't answer those questions, what right do you have to the privilege of voting? You might as well be one of the sheep who flock to the polls in the dictatorships, dutifully vote 'yet,' and flock home to their suppers of thin soup and black bread."
Good Reading Rack Service, 1960
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