To the editor;
During the most recent provincial election, I had the privilege of manning a polling station at the Advance Poll.
Listening to the news one morning prior attending to the poll, I heard that Pakistan was at the same time holding a general election, that militant extremists were intimidating candidates and voters visiting the pools, and that in face of that, many voters were adamantly determined to cast their ballots.
Throughout the campaigning here in B.C., I heard many complaints in the media. Among them were complaints of the proliferation of the ubiquitous candidate signs, of the constant stream of negative advertisements, and even of the mere inconvenience of there being an election at all.
Subsequently, I heard that in B.C., only 52 per cent of those eligible could even be bothered to vote, while in Pakistan, over 100 people were killed by those militant extremists determined to obstruct the procedure of voting.
I wonder how many voters in Pakistan would be sympathetic with our mundane complaints and our general apathy.
Yours sincerely,
Glenn M. Andrews
Barriere, B.C.