Dying to Vote

"We know that the road to freedom has always been stalked by death."

    - Angela Davis, American civil rights activist

When I read stories about human courage such as this one by Craig Charney and think about how we Americans mostly take for granted the liberties that others in the world risk their lives to exercise, it makes me both proud and ashamed. Proud to live in a country where I can participate in government by voting for the candidates of my choice, ashamed that there are millions of people in the world who don't yet have that freedom.

Charney tells us of the hopefulness of Afghan citizens who are looking forward to their first free presidential election this fall:

"A major reason for Afghans' determination to vote is the rebirth of hope in their country since the fall of the Taliban. They know too well its problems with security, warlords and women's rights. But two out of three think Afghanistan is headed in the right direction, citing the progress toward peace, reconstruction and normality in most of the country...Afghans have placed great faith in democratic elections: Fully 77 percent say the election of a president and parliament will make a difference.

Almost two thirds of Afghans have gained some idea of the meaning of democracy; most mention freedom of rights. A solid consensus (more than 80 percent) supports equal rights under law--regardless of religion, tribe or gender--and the right to peaceably oppose government. Two in three now favor separating religious and political leadership, while less than 10 percent think democracy and Islam are incompatible."

Amazingly, almost 90 percent of eligible Afghans have signed up to cast ballots for their country's new leadership according to this Cnews report by Stephen Graham:

"First tallies since the eight-month registration drive began winding down on Saturday show that 8.7 million of an estimated 9.8 million eligible voters have collected ID cards for the Oct. 9 election. Forty-one percent of those registered were women."

Getting involved, as millions of Afghans have, can be a dangerous proposition:

"Shootings and explosions have killed at least nine election workers since May, including a worker and a would-be voter killed Wednesday by a bomb in a mosque used as registration center in Ghazni province. Afghan officials said a mine seriously injured three election workers in Uruzgan on Friday."

In a place where being found with a voter card could result in an on-the-spot execution by guerrillas who don't want this to happen, you have to have the courage of your convictions, that's for sure. And courage they have, for they continue to come forward, apparently convinced that real change is about to occur, and wanting to be a part of it.

The contrast between the Afghans' dedication to this process and our own is striking, really. Facing personal harm or even loss of their lives, almost every eligible Afghan has registered and is anxious to vote. In this great country, facing little inconvenience and having conveniently located polling places, only half of us cast a ballot. Go figure.