Cherish right to vote
ELECTIONS bring on one very notable thing – booth workers. Not the Electoral Commission workers who take your name, but the workers out the front who come from all of the political parties.
They offer you a “how to vote card”, from their chosen party and hope you make a decision based on your beliefs.
I have often volunteered for elections, handing out such cards, and you get to know many of the people from all parties either over the course of the election or the same ones you see over and over.
Yet to many of these workers, it is evident our democratic process is not fully understood by a large portion of voters.
Many hate the process, and loudly say so. Many tell you they will vote informal. Many say they believe all politicians are corrupt and don’t want to vote for anyone.
Then there are the ones who are determined and just walk by and take no leaflets from anyone.
Conversely, there are an amazing number of people who stop, ask and seek advice or help in voting.
Our democratic process is the best system on Earth, because if you don’t have democracy, you have communism, socialism or a dictator.
Our system of democracy, while not perfect, is what I prefer to live under, as we get to choose, we get to make deci- sions and we get to say “yes” or “no” to who is wanting to govern our country.
Our democracy has come at a price, lives have been lost to give us the rights that some show total disdain for.
Yet the fact you can rant and rave about politics and voting in this country is because we have a democracy.
Millions of people all over the world would give anything to have that right, because most of the world does not have the right to vote or they run the risk of being shot or killed while trying to do so.
It is clear to the many people I have spoken to on the frontline in the last few elections that a large percentage of our community does not understand our system of government. They don’t know why we vote or why it is very important to make a determined decision when you take a pen and mark a ballot paper.
It is all to do with the survival of our freedoms. Democracy depends on “government of the people, for the people and by the people”.
So when you vote, give a thought to the reason you are standing there. You may not like your choices ( then become a politician), you may not like the trouble ( then think of what it would be like if we could never vote again), then at the very least make a decision based on your circumstances and what you believe you want for your grandchildren.
Because without voting, democracy or running the gauntlet of poll booth workers, you will not matter anyway. DEBRA GIBSON,
Pinnacles.