Steemit Engagement Challenge S8-W3 | Elections in my Country

Greetings my lovely friends!

"Election" is the current headline in Sri Lanka! Theoretically, elections are the act that we get a chance to choose our leaders and representative. In any democratic country in this world we have elections. So, in today's contest post I will share my view about elections in Sri Lanka.

👉🏾What do you think about Elections in your country:

It is one of the most controversial and hyped topics in Sri Lanka. For ages, Sri Lankans were betrayed by almost all the leaders who came to power. So many people do not believe in elections and lost their faith in upcoming elections.

The country is currently seeking financial support from The International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is because of the corrupt politicians who lead the country without a proper vision. Due to this reason, the majority of the citizen thinks that elections are just a joke which rotates the same corrupt politicians over and over.

People believe that we must have a system change to make everything better.

👉🏾What do you think about the electoral system in your country?

Sri Lanka has 25 districts and those districts are divided into 22 electoral districts where people can vote for the one they like in that particular district. The candidates always come through the ticket from a political party. To get that ticket, candidates should have power, money or popularity. The one big mistake here is that they don't consider education qualifications whatsoever.

So, let's say I have been in a popular teledrama which got very popular among the people. Now I have celebrity status and basically, I can run for the election and become number 01 in my district confirming all the facilities and entry for parliament. Can you believe in such system! What experience do I have in running a council? What is the qualification I have to make policies for the country? People don't really see into that much of details.

Because of this flawed system, Sri Lanka parliament only has 70 undergraduate degree holders out of 225 MPs.

👉🏾How is it done in your country?

When the election is called, candidates rush into their political campaigns. Five years back we can see posters all over every wall beside the road with large billboards. Somehow that trend vanished because people refuse such acts because of environmental pollution.

Now they are more into organizing little pocket meetings in every village or city. The promises are always the same! People gather around for their representative and cheer for them. In the evening they can have a party they want, and maybe some money or a potential job if the candidate wins.

As a voter, what we have to do before the election is to submit our information to the divisional secretariats office and there we will receive our voting ticket to our Identity card.

On the election date we can go to the pooling booth and present the voting ticket and vote for the preferred candidate and the political party. To avoid double voting they use semi permanent ink on our little finger.

Once the voting time finish, government officers along with other representatives move the voting boxes to the counting centers.

👉🏾Is it transparent and fair in your country..

The elections which held in recent years were peaceful and transparent. There were minor incidents but people are aware that it should be nonviolent.

With that perspective, I believe the way our elections are conducted is fair to all.

However, I must emphasize that in the pre election government misuse its power to gain the majority by using government services for campaigns and media.

👉🏾Assume there's no fairness and effectiveness as far as elections are concerned, what solutions can you propose to ensure its being carried out the right way

Government spends millions of dollars on elections and it is a right of the people. So, it should be done in any way. Therefore, implementing technological solutions could save some money in the long term. Also, with technology we can assure that the effectiveness of the process will be high. As long as the government doesn't interferes it will be 100% fair as well.

But moving from traditional way to technology will take time and a lot of learning for the citizens. Yet it is necessary for the future of Sri Lanka.

Ending the topic, I would like to invite my friends @dove11 , @mini80 and @katherine012 to join the contest.