Braziliant lesson on why to vote
· Citizen
A relative has a lot of strong opinions about politics. None of them align with mine.
Come voting day I thought he’d be down at the local polling station in his khakis, waving his Vierkleur, making a big old X for the VF Plus Divided.
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But no. Turns out he doesn’t vote and, immediately, I decided his opinion is of no consequence.
If he can vote but exercises his constitutional right not to – aka stays in bed – then it’s all hot air and zero fire and I never need to listen to him again.
Voter apathy in SA’s municipal election
And yet he isn’t the only one: of the 29 230 808 registered voters in the country, only 15 227 787 turned up.
Nearly half of the population couldn’t be bothered, whether due to apathy, illness, or a pressing need to go to the mall.
Yes, perhaps it was a protest stayaway, but if that’s how you feel, go spoil your vote so at least it’s clear you have an opinion, even if you have lost faith in the established order of things.
Show willing, show you are unimpressed, but show up. It makes me desperately sad.
People died so everyone can make their mark: in 1994, turnout was 86.9% and yet, now, there’s this collective meh.
I was at the movies on election day where someone asked my mum (age 85) if she’d voted.
Of course. Had he? Nope. He had to work.
But the polling stations were open for 14 hours, with special votes if you were travelling, working, or infirm, or whatever other reason might prevent you from joining the queue.
My Uber driver hadn’t voted, either. What’s the point, he shrugged, as we swerved around another pothole.
Brazil elections
The point, I think, is illustrated by Brazil, where they sometimes get a chance to rethink their choice.
In Brazil’s presidential election, if no-one gets over 50% first time around they have a second vote.
Following their latest election, in October, the incumbent, liberal leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, looked likely to be ousted by far-right Flavio Bolsonaro, who got 2.2 million votes more.
But more than 33 million voters hadn’t turned up. Then came the second round.
Three million more people came, notably 1.4 million geriatrics, hobbling into stations because they knew it mattered, however tired they were.
They changed the course of history. Now, maybe, South Africa needs a do-over, too.
Maybe we need a Brazilian.