National Assembly members just talked about letting Gambians living overseas vote. Every lawmaker from the ruling party and their friends said no. Nobody really understands why they seem scared of diaspora voters. The Justice Minister tried explaining that folks living outside the country can't vote because they don't belong to voting areas called constituencies.
Many experts laugh at this reason. They say the government could easily ask the Independent Electoral Commission to create voting areas for people living abroad. With all our amazing technology today, setting up these voting areas should be pretty simple. Had officials started working on this right after the last election, we wouldn't need to argue about it today.
The government leaders don't seem interested in making overseas voting happen. These same Gambians living abroad send home millions of dalasi every year that keep our economy running. They naturally want some say in picking who runs their homeland. Government officials always brag about money coming from abroad, yet they block these same people from having any voice when they ask for it.
Most countries near us already fixed this problem. When elections happen in neighboring nations, their citizens living here in The Gambia can cast votes. The system works perfectly fine for them. Our leaders treat Gambians abroad unfairly by denying them this basic right. Every Gambian citizen deserves to vote regardless of where they live.
Many experts laugh at this reason. They say the government could easily ask the Independent Electoral Commission to create voting areas for people living abroad. With all our amazing technology today, setting up these voting areas should be pretty simple. Had officials started working on this right after the last election, we wouldn't need to argue about it today.
The government leaders don't seem interested in making overseas voting happen. These same Gambians living abroad send home millions of dalasi every year that keep our economy running. They naturally want some say in picking who runs their homeland. Government officials always brag about money coming from abroad, yet they block these same people from having any voice when they ask for it.
Most countries near us already fixed this problem. When elections happen in neighboring nations, their citizens living here in The Gambia can cast votes. The system works perfectly fine for them. Our leaders treat Gambians abroad unfairly by denying them this basic right. Every Gambian citizen deserves to vote regardless of where they live.
