THE announcement by the Solomon Islands Electoral Office (SIEO) that its Media and Communications team is soon to roll out a voters’ awareness program in preparation for the ‘Synchronized Elections’ in April this year 2024 is a positive development worthy of commendation.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and Commissioner Jasper Highwood Anisi, in announcing the awareness program, has acknowledged that the task of educating citizens on the important subject of elections is an enormous challenge and as such, the Office of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission invests considerable resources in voter awareness and public outreach.
The awareness program will see the SIEO Media and Communications educate the public about their rights and responsibilities as voters through the electoral cycle through radio programs, face-to-face awareness talks, school visits and work with the media.
Voter awareness is crucial as it helps citizens understand their rights and responsibilities as voters and the importance of voting itself. Voter awareness has been lacking in the country and SIEO must be commended for coming up with this worthy initiative. The donor partners helping the Solomon Islands Government through the SIEO to prepare for the elections must also be commended for their commitment to ensuring a clean and fair elections and these are Australian Government, New Zealand Government, European Union, United Nations Development Programme and others.
By exercising one’s right to vote, one contributes to the of leaders we have in Parliament and Parliament is the highest legislative body that makes laws and also makes changes to any existing law when the government deems it necessary. When citizens exercise their voting right by voting in candidates that understand the role of a Parliamentarian, the country will have a strong and robust legislature which critically scrutinizes bills before passing them into law. The election of good candidates into Parliament will also see the election of a good government that comes up with sound policies and legislations that advance the greater national interest.
Over the years, voting has been influenced by family relations, wantok system, church affiliation and promises of financial and material gifts and this resulted in the interesting makeup of the past eleven Parliament the country has since Independence and it is time that this voting behavior must stop. It is time that voters go for party-line voting or voting for candidates based on their party policies. Having a one-party government makes it easy for citizens to hold it accountable for its policies after its term in office. A one-party government’s non-fulfilment of its policies warrants its removal in the next election.
With the foregoing, Solomon Star looks forward to working with the SIEO Media and Communications Team in carrying out its election awareness program.
