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Go Out And Vote!
5-03-2017
Participation in BC Provincial Elections, being held on Tuesday, May 9th, is just as imperative as voting in the federal elections. In fact, it is more important to vote, and make our voices heard in provincial election than any other election. As for jurisdiction under the Provincial legislature has far reaching impact on our daily lives, especially Health and Education. These two reasons alone should serve as a great incentive for us to go out and vote.
However, as always, each election, may it be Municipal, Provincial, or Federal we remind our community members as to why as minority group in this country we need to have our voices heard, and there is no better platform than the elections where we can have our say and make a statement with our votes.
Traditionally, voter turnouts during Municipal and Provincial elections are lower than the turnout during the Federal Election. When in fact, it should be the other way around, because local governments make decisions which affect our daily affairs, more so than the Federal Government.
During the last Federal Elections demonstrated the power of a Muslim Vote. It was evident that when Canadian Muslims Vote bank has the power to make monumental changes in Canadian political landscape. We as a minority in this country, who is constantly under scrutiny need to keep the momentum to ensure our rights are not compromised. The only way we could assure that by ensuring that we all cast our vote.
Every vote counts. In last federal elections, few candidates lost the elections merely by few votes. During last Federal Election, Mr. Daniel Blaikie, NDP, won by merely 61 votes.
Some people think that if they vote for the candidate who ends up losing, or their respective party does not form the government, they’ve wasted their vote. There is no such thing as wasted vote. The only vote that is wasted is the one you do not cast. During this current provincial election, we cannot afford to waste our votes.
One thing can be certain, with both Liberals and NDP tied in polls, on Tuesday, May 9th, there certainly will be several razor thin victories, and your one vote could very well be the deciding factor. Especially, based on past elections, in some of the ridings in the Lower Mainland the Loss or Victory is usually decided by only several hundred votes, and surely, May 9th, results will be no exception.
In fact, May 9th, result may prove that, in Lower Mainland, there are even more ridings now getting to the razor thin victory margins than ever before.
In fact, in many of the ridings where Muslim Voters, who number in few hundreds, have become the decided factor where they’ve clearly supported one party or candidate over the other.
Once again, we encourage all community members to ensure that each eligible voter in their household participates and votes.
It is imperative in whatever the little time we have left, from now till Tuesday, May 9th, to educate ourselves with various parties, their platforms, our local candidates, and most of all main issues in the elections, that we take time and educate ourselves. This to assist us in our decision, for casting our votes based on informed knowledge, rather than being herded to the polls with misguided and misleading information.
We ask our readers to scan through the number of issues which were generated by audience members during number of all candidates meetings AlAmeen Post held in several mosques across the Lower Mainland. This would give our readers what are the concerns people had which they felt needed to be answered by their respective candidates.
Once you’ve decided to support a party or candidate, do reach out to them, and offer your assistance. Volunteer – There will be a greater need of volunteers by each party on election day, than any other day of the campaign.
Encourage others community members to take part in the provincial election, and cast their votes.
Lastly, we cannot stress enough the importance of casting our votes on Tuesday, May 9th. This will be our best opportunity to show the power of Muslim Voters.
All the best to everyone – Do Not Waste Your Vote – Go Out And Vote!
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