Going to the Polls

When General Elections are round the corner in my home country, Kenya, I ask my fellow citizens, "Are you a registered voter?”. Often times some will shrug their shoulders indicating that voting is not an important process deserving their attention. Another group will register as voters, but fail to show up at the polling station. Let us talk about why we should take the voting process seriously in a democratic state.

What is a Vote?

This word comes from the root word 'Votum' in latin which translates to an aspiration, prayer, wish, solemn promise, vow, desire or hope. You give your vote to someone with the expectation that they give back to you something (mostly their ideas or campaign promises). A vote can also be viewed as a covenant relationship between two parties. This means your vote is 'sacred', it is something precious to you.

Voting therefore is giving support to an idea in the expectation that the idea will benefit you - you get into a covenant with what you have voted for (the idea). It is the act of giving power to someone to act on your behalf. You give your vote with the expectation to get something in return. 

In an election, you vote for or against something - a concept, philosophy or ideology. There must be something on the table for your consideration to vote for or against. You must consider what each aspirant is vowing to give you in exchange for your vote. It should not be an emotional process, you must think about what they are promising before you trade in your vote!

Sovereignty in a Democracy

You have heard declarations that a certain nation is a sovereign state - what does this actually mean? Let's eliminate assumption and talk about sovereignty. Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political authority over a geographic region or group of people. It is the authority of a state to govern itself - you are who you are by yourself. Sovereignty is where the power of the state rests.

There are various forms of government. In biblical days, there was theocracy and monarchies.  In a theocracy the will of God rules. God ruled through priests. It did not matter whether the priest was popular, it only mattered that he was chosen by God. In a monarchy the will of the King (or Queen, or Emperor) rules. He has the ultimate power over his kingdom and his will rules.

In today's world, a majority of the governments are democratic. In a true democracy, sovereignty resides with the individual citizens of that state. The power over the state is with the person who is a citizen of that state. You however cannot have each of the citizens ruling the people all at the same time! This is where thre voting process comes in!

 The voting process is an exchange process - the citizens give up their sovereignty to an individual! If someone has to be the president, each one of the citizens must surrender their sovereignty and give it to him or her through the voting process. No citizen can govern a state (or other citizens) unless the people surrender their sovereignty to him or her.

The sovereignty or power of a theocracy is with God. In a monarchy it lies with the King. The power in a democracy is with the People! This is the reason why you must take the voting process seriously. You are exchanging your sovereignty for an idea presented by a presidential aspirant! Do not despise the value of your vote by sitting back and saying "well, the bad leaders always go through…".  It is your responsibility to make sure you exchange your sovereignty with that leader that you consider has your best interest at heart, whose values resonate with yours.  You should aim at maintaining a clean conscience after the voting process regardless of who wins the election by exercising your voting rights.

The first thing you MUST do is to register as a voter, then show up to cast your vote on the elections day. Before then, I urge that you ask yourself, does this presidential aspirant deserve my sovereignty? Don't sell it cheap!