Afghanistan Votes
I was just reading about the voting that took place in Afghanistan this past Sunday. I felt awed by what I read, and couldn't help comparing it with I know about the voting in Canada.
Sunday's vote was to be the first legislative elections in Afghanistan for decades, in fact, since 1969. How many times have Canadians had the luxury of going to the polls in that same time span? The voters went to the polls in defiance of the Taliban, and in fear for their lives. There were "at least" 14 people killed in attacks made by Taliban guerrillas. When was the last time that any Canadian went to cast a ballot, knowing that to do so might cost them their life?
Surveys taken since our last federal election in 2004 showed that 69% of the respondents said they had exercised their right to vote in that last election. Many people who read that might be tempted to say it's not such a bad result. I would see it differently. I would ask what possible excuse there could be for the 31% of eligible voters who never made it to the polls?
There is one more figure to be aware of, however, in the Canadian stats, and that one is all the more reason for Canadian voters to feel shame when they read the numbers from Afghanistan's voting day. It is felt that a 22% error margin must be allowed for the results of any survey trying to gauge the number of eligible voters who exercise their right. The theory is that when asked if they did vote, many who did not actually do so will experience a moment of civic shame and lie, rather than admit the truth.
Complacency is allowed to rule the lives of too many here in the pampered west. A stark contrast to our laissez-faire attitudes was provided on Sunday, in that troubled country, a contrast we might do well to look at carefully. In a land so badly torn apart by all it has lately endured, over 3,740,000 people braved real danger to cast their ballot. The country's population stands at 29,928,987. That means that more than 1/10th of the population turned out. Our figures do not hold up well to comparison with that tenth.
One of Afghanistan's voters, Oari Salahuddin, is quoted in a Reuters news article as saying, "I (was) so happy, I couldn't sleep last night and was watching the clock to come out and vote." What provided such happiness to Oari is merely a reason to yawn for so many here. Maybe we need to rethink our attitude.
Sunday's vote was to be the first legislative elections in Afghanistan for decades, in fact, since 1969. How many times have Canadians had the luxury of going to the polls in that same time span? The voters went to the polls in defiance of the Taliban, and in fear for their lives. There were "at least" 14 people killed in attacks made by Taliban guerrillas. When was the last time that any Canadian went to cast a ballot, knowing that to do so might cost them their life?
Surveys taken since our last federal election in 2004 showed that 69% of the respondents said they had exercised their right to vote in that last election. Many people who read that might be tempted to say it's not such a bad result. I would see it differently. I would ask what possible excuse there could be for the 31% of eligible voters who never made it to the polls?
There is one more figure to be aware of, however, in the Canadian stats, and that one is all the more reason for Canadian voters to feel shame when they read the numbers from Afghanistan's voting day. It is felt that a 22% error margin must be allowed for the results of any survey trying to gauge the number of eligible voters who exercise their right. The theory is that when asked if they did vote, many who did not actually do so will experience a moment of civic shame and lie, rather than admit the truth.
Complacency is allowed to rule the lives of too many here in the pampered west. A stark contrast to our laissez-faire attitudes was provided on Sunday, in that troubled country, a contrast we might do well to look at carefully. In a land so badly torn apart by all it has lately endured, over 3,740,000 people braved real danger to cast their ballot. The country's population stands at 29,928,987. That means that more than 1/10th of the population turned out. Our figures do not hold up well to comparison with that tenth.
One of Afghanistan's voters, Oari Salahuddin, is quoted in a Reuters news article as saying, "I (was) so happy, I couldn't sleep last night and was watching the clock to come out and vote." What provided such happiness to Oari is merely a reason to yawn for so many here. Maybe we need to rethink our attitude.
1 Comments:
Well said.
Funny how we take such priviledges lightly.
Post a Comment
<< Home