Election Fairness

I have often thought long and hard on the subject of ‘Free and Fair’
elections. I have wondered if that alone can or has the potential to be
the elixir to our electoral misfortunes and resultant foisted horrible
governments. The general results of my musings was ‘No, Free and Fair
elections is NOT the solution’.
How can it be?



I’m working on the premise that success is a process, not an event, that excellence is a habit, not an occasion.

So let’s look at this critically.
Let us take an imaginary land El Dorado, a land of immense opportunity with voter population of 100 million people, shall we?

Scenario ONE:
Three candidates vie for presidential office. The candidates are;
- Capt CROOK
- Comrado CONSCIENTIOUS
- Mr CLUELESS
Their names suggest their personalities.
Now, if about 60 million of the voter population have crookish
tendencies, you can safely expect them to vote for Capt CROOK. The
remaining 40 million votes would be split between Comrado CONSCIENTIOUS
and Mr CLUELESS. That election could be ‘Free and Fair’ because they all
voted transparently without rigging. But the winner wasn’t the best
choice.

Scenario TWO:
Mr CLUELESS is from a long-neglected ‘marginalised’ minority and so his
people harp on sentiments and that monkey trick called Zoning
Policy/Quota System (also can be described as Your-Turn-My-Turn) to get
him elected. Let’s say 70 million of the voting population buy this
sentimental hogwash and vote in Mr CLUELESS, the election could be ‘Free
and Fair’ but the nation landed with the wrong person.

Scenario THREE:
All three candidates run for president but the 100 million strong voter
population don’t all turn up to vote on D-day because they have lost
faith in the ‘IWUru-wuru’ process now turned ‘Jega-Jega’. Only about 20
million die-hards show up and vote for Capt CROOK with the ‘oily’ hands.
‘Free and Fair’ elections but wrong person.

Scenario FOUR:
Capt CROOK, who has a lot of money to spare and share around, lavishly
spreads the national cake even before he gets there. Infact, in his
genius, he contrives national ‘chin-chin’ since the cake might not go
round. He persuades people to vote for him- but not without rewards.
Sell me your vote for a bag of rice or garri or a gun or some cash to
throw around. If the majority of voters buy that crap and sell their
votes, that election, by world standards, doesn’t contravene ‘Free and
Fair’ since suasion- whether monetary or not, not compulsion, was used.
‘Free and Fair’ but wrong person.

Scenario FIVE:
Capt CROOK, having ‘chop’ more than was due him, more than his fair and
unfair share, more than was healthy for him, finally dies of political
gluttony. Comrado CONSCIENTIOUS, thoroughly tired of the whole nonsense,
leaves the country of promise to their perpetual foolishness and faces
his personal business squarely. Only Mr- oops! Pardon my disrespect, I
meant Dr, he’s now a Dr not Mr- only Dr CLUELESS remains and maybe
another candidate, Chief CLOWNISH. The choice is now between two
‘basically wags’. So, even then, the election might still be ‘Free and
Fair’ and yet that country of potentials is left in the hands of
whichever incompetent, bungling, bumbling personality to administer their
clumsy idea of governance.

In all five cases, elections were ‘Free and Fair’ yet didn’t guarantee
that the best emerged. It just made sure that the whim of the majority
was pandered to. A majority who has issues with wisdom. ‘Free and Fair’
is but one step in achieving what we ought.

The real tragedy won’t be if our votes don’t count. The great calamity
would be if our votes count and we end up voting for the
same-old-same-old legisLOOTERS, House of MISrepresentaTHIEVES, and
DIShonourables, if those votes count and we sold them to
Predator-Senators, to Presidents and Governors who’ll add to our
problems. But an even greater curse awaits us in our inaction. When we
COULD HAVE VOTED ‘if only we knew’ but didn’t because we believed ‘it
won’t count’ and when it would have counted most, our votes were
conspicuously absent.

Yes, our elections must be ‘Free and Fair’ but the electorate owes it to
the commonwealth of their land and to the legacy they would bequeath to
generations yet unborn, to place those votes on people with deep,
fundamental VALUES, not deep, monumental POCKETS.

Governance doesn’t end with ‘Free and Fair’ elections which, mostly, is
an event. Quite the contrary, that’s when it begins. So, we must have
built a process with an incorporated Valid System for Values Measurement
that would help us to determine where our thumbs would print because
the consequences of our choices may very well dog us for the next four
years.

Make your votes count.

TechieLividon
ThINKers Lounge Publications.