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Someone may be buying votes
Dear Editor,
In 1992 when the PPP came to power it claimed that it would create a new era in Guyanese politics. There would be free and fair elections, a return to democracy and clean and lean governance. That was then.
Today as we prepare to go to the polls there are several reports that efforts are being made to prevent these elections from being free and fair. Several acquaintances have informed me that they have been approached by operatives of a certain political party.
They have been offered money ($100,000) for their vote. The plan is elaborate and incorporates the use of modern technology. The voters will be given half of the money up front, they are instructed to take their cell phones to the polls, and produce photographic evidence that they voted for the party in question, and they will then receive the rest of the money.
I want to bring this to the attention of the public and also the election commission and any other stake holders in this election. Votes should not be for sale.
I am aware that times are hard and people are struggling just to get by, but it reeks of vulgarity to take advantage of economically depressed persons robbing them of their constitutional right; disenfranchising them for a few dollars.
I am hoping that these reports are false, but if they are not, then by exposing this plot we may be able to deter the potential perpetrators from engaging in this skullduggery.
I feel the right to vote is sacred; I believe that that choice should be made freely, without fear or monetary enticement.
I also believe that political parties should earn their support the old fashioned way, by putting their case to the voters on the hustings, explaining why theirs is the better platform, then let the voter in the privacy of the voting booth make his or her decision.
This is an essential tenet of democracy this is an essential element of Free and fair elections. Votes should not be bought, neither should they be stolen.
Mark Archer
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