The Short Trip

CEBU, Philippines —  Tomorrow the Filipino electorate once again makes their choices for public officials. Such choices range from members of Congress (district and sector representatives, and senators) down to members of the city or municipal councils. The people are to decide which candidates win or lose.

The voting process is going to be chaotic and difficult in many places, as usual. Voters in the mountain barangays have to trek kilometers of craggy pathways to get to the polling centers. Then, it’s often a long line at the precincts.

Yet one is lucky enough to get in line, no matter how long it takes for him to finally get to vote. Others may only have to mope by the sides because their names are not in the voters’ list. There’s not always available assistance for voters in trouble; election officers are too few and extremely busy dealing with all the issues that come up during the day.

The automation of the election system, while far from perfect, has undoubtedly been a big improvement. It certainly takes shorter time for voters to simply blot small circles in the ballot rather than write the candidates’ names. And the counting and tabulation of the votes afterwards are now faster, too.

We seem to be sealing off age-old cracks in the electoral system, at last. Election cheats now have to think up new schemes to beat the present setup. We can only hope that it is no longer so easy to maneuver election results.

The security and convenience offered by technology, however, is no substitute for the uprightness and vigilance of the people. Even the machine cannot distinguish between a paid vote and a righteous one. The moral distinction of the vote still rests with the voter.

It may not be enough to simply go out and vote. The voter shall take it upon himself to have good reason for his vote, for his choices. He shall have studied well beforehand each of those offering themselves for public service, the candidates. He shall have been fully convinced that the ones he votes for will turn out to be good public servants, not public masters like so many we have had seen.

The voter shall also see to it that his vote is duly accounted for. He is so lucky to be part of a democracy where his decision matters. He has the right to participate in the affairs of the nation; a right that had cost the dear lives of our heroes, and that it is now his responsibility to uphold it – for himself and for the generations after him.

There’s no way – even in the most honest and fairest elections – for the voter to be sure that his vote will make his chosen candidates win. True, the voter votes for the win. But the only win he can be sure of is his own.

When one has decided which candidates are worthy of his vote and why, he is a serious voter. When he resists attempts to woo his vote with promises of reward or remuneration, he is a decent citizen. More so if he braves all the inconvenience, discomforts, and even threats to his person if only to be able to vote.

The very moment the voter casts his vote, he already wins. Because he has exercised a most precious right. And it all starts by making the short trip to voting precinct.