Dear Editor,
Please allow me a space in your paper, I wish to say something in this subject.
My mother used said to me, son you are a registered voter, why are you not voting anymore? I said Mama, I’ve voted in every Solomon Islands election since I was turn 18 and I’ve never registered for a shirt as of yet.
Then she said son here is the problem: while some folks are frustrated and stay home on election day, trust me other folks are showing up. Democracy continues with or without you.
Now I understand what has been going on: voting is not only our right but our power. Then she said son, your vote is your voice. I said mama, I’ve been voting for those who only care for their voters. I’ve have witnessed this practice throughout my voting life; they used to pay me and others during such time or later on in return for our ballot papers. If we do not do it their way, then we will be rejected.
I have been around enough to understand their grounds and they too need to understand mine: I want all political girls and boys out there to be good to all the people on their way up the ladder because they will need the people on their way down.
Gabriel Kato
USP SI Campus
