Editorial

Where to vote?

If you are asking about the location designated for you to cast your ballot, then a quick visit to the website of the Saint Lucia Electoral Department or the physical office at the Godfrey James Building #23 High Street in Castries, may be able to answer all your election related questions.

If you are asking about who you should vote for, then that is an entirely difference lawn to mow.

First, and probably most importantly, is the issue of why we must/should vote and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a very good place to start. The U.S. Federal Statute, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6th, 1965, was enacted to prohibit racial discrimination in voting and amended five times to expand its protections. This act and subsequent amendments were as a result of Jim Crow Laws that legalized disenfranchisement by instituting literacy tests, poll taxes, property-ownership requirements, moral character tests, requirements that voter registration applicants interpret particular documents, and grandfather clauses that allowed otherwise-ineligible persons to vote if their grandfathers voted, which excluded many African Americans whose grandfathers had been slaves or otherwise ineligible. At one point, women could not vote irrespective of race. In the fight for voting rights, many have suffered all manner of indignity and even worse, thousands have died, mainly from the black community. This more than anything else makes it a right that must be cherished and vehemently protected and utilized.

Second, and possibly just as important, is the fact that a small minority can decide the fate of the nation. While it is evident that small margins have decided elections, it becomes more pronounced when half of the voting population are inactive on election day. Take Gros Islet for example. In the last general elections {2021}, only 12,292 votes were cast in a community with a voting population of over 24,000. It was worse in Central Castries where only 3684 exercised their franchise out of a registered list of 9102. Overall, out of 174,332 registered voters, less than 90,000 {51%} participated.

Having established a little history and the numbers as it relates to our St. Lucia, it should be clear why voting is important and how it affects our future.

That said, we still have not established who you should vote for. The truth is nobody can or should be able to tell you who should receive your support on election day. It is an inalienable right as an individual to associate, support and vote for the individual, group of party of our choice. What may be important to us individually is how we go about making those choices. The best advice has always been to listen to all the political voices and choose based on what is important to you and the country as a whole, and the track records of the candidates before you. While this still does no tell you which box to tick, it surely puts you on the right path.

Some still believe that it is their absolute right to not vote or deliberately spoil their ballot, and while that is actually true, consider what is actually possible. What if only 20,000 went out to vote and decided what our government would look like for the next 5 years?

Others also believe that if you do not participate in the voting process you have no right to speak on national issues.

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