Don’t Throw Away Or Suppress Your Vote, Cast It

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Don’t throw away your vote, don’t suppress it, cast it. Your vote is your voice. It makes you have a say on how this country is run and who should take charge of its affairs. If you suppress your vote, you will be like a stranger in the land where you live, where someone will determine how you live.

Collectively the vote of each of us counts and our combined vote determines the state of affairs in this country. This is why each adult citizen has the right to take part in public affairs, including the right to vote and be voted for in public elections. This is stated explicitly in section 26 of the Constitution:

Every citizen of The Gambia of full age and capacity shall have the right, without unreasonable restrictions –

(a)   to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;

(b)   to vote and stand for elections at genuine periodic elections for public office, which elections shall be by universal and equal suffrage and be held by secret ballot;

(c)   to have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in The Gambia.”