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This quote is probably misquoted, but I remember this as a Blake's 7 quote from Servalan. However, I have also read elsewhere a similar quote from Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

Is there a quote like this from Blake's 7 at all, and if so which episode?

Is this quote from Discworld, and if so which book?

Is this from somewhere else entirely?

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    The expression "one man, one vote" dates from the 1880s. I'd wager the first person to make a joke along these lines did so in the 1880s, too.
    – Jon Hanna
    Commented Jun 23, 2017 at 14:13

1 Answer 1

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I think you might be referring to this one:

Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.

Terry Pratchett - Mort

Or alternatively, this one:

Technically, the city of Ankh-Morpork is a Tyranny, which is not always the same thing as a monarchy, and in fact even the post of Tyrant has been somewhat redefined by the incumbent, Lord Vetinari, as the only form of democracy that works. Everyone is entitled to vote, unless disqualified by reason of age or not being Lord Vetinari.

Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals

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    Thanks, the Mort quote is definitely the quote I read elsewhere if there is no Blake's 7 quote I will mark this as the answer.
    – DafyddNZ
    Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 22:02
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    “How you are?” she said, in fractured but recognizable Morporkian. “We are very sorry. All better now? We speak you in language of celestial city of Ankh-More-Pork. Language of freedom and progress. Language of One Man, One Vote!” “Yes,” said Rincewind. A vision of Ankh-Morpork’s Patrician floated across his memory. One man, one vote. Yes. “I’ve met him. He’s definitely got the vote. But—” - Interesting Times
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 22:03
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    @DafyddNZ - a search in each of the Blake's 7 transcripts hosted at hermit.org/b7/Episodes/scripts for the key-word "vote" finds several matches for the word but nothing matching or similiar to your line. I think Ram's answer wins.
    – Kerr Avon
    Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 22:28
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    @KerrAvon Thanks, I must have completely misremembered. It's been a while since I watched Blake's 7.
    – DafyddNZ
    Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 22:32
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    Sounds a lot like a mod "voting to close" on stackexchange.
    – CodesInChaos
    Commented Jun 23, 2017 at 9:59

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