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published: Tuesday | October 31, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Vernon Daley
Mike Henry's <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">proposal</SPAN> to give homeless people the opportunity to vote, on the face of it, is a noble idea.
But we shouldn't feel bound to pursue all the noble ideas that pop into our heads, and we especially shouldn't feel compelled to pursue this one. Frankly, it's not worth the time and effort that have already been given to dealing with it.
Parliament, it has been reported, is seeking the advice of the Solicitor-General to determine whether the rights of homeless people are violated by the Electoral Office's registration requirement that a voter should have a verifiable residential address.
I sincerely hope the Solicitor-General's legal research leads him to conclude that there is no such violation. The last thing the country needs is another pool of hapless people which can be used by politicians at election time in return for a 'plate of <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">curry</SPAN> goat.'
Trading their votes
Already, there are too many people who trade their votes for some flimsy partisan political benefits. The country needs less of that, not more.
For years, there have been complaints in some parts of the U.S. that registering homeless people, using shelters and post office boxes, have facilitated fraud in the electoral system by giving undue influence to these transient members of communities.
It's not being suggested that Mr. Henry has an ulterior motive in calling for the franchise for the homeless. But we can't ignore the possibility that this grand idea could easily be transformed into some foul purpose.
Mr. Henry, the Opposition MP for Central Clarendon, was quoted last week as saying that, "Real democracy rests with the fact that if you have nothing, you must retain the right to vote. If you live under a bus shelter, you must have the right to vote. If you live in a canal, you must have the right to vote."
It all sounds good. But going down this line is not a productive use of national <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink3 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,3); style="POSITION: relative; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,3); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,3); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061031/cleisure/cleisure3.html#" target=_new><FONT style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative" color
Vernon Daley
Mike Henry's <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">proposal</SPAN> to give homeless people the opportunity to vote, on the face of it, is a noble idea.
But we shouldn't feel bound to pursue all the noble ideas that pop into our heads, and we especially shouldn't feel compelled to pursue this one. Frankly, it's not worth the time and effort that have already been given to dealing with it.
Parliament, it has been reported, is seeking the advice of the Solicitor-General to determine whether the rights of homeless people are violated by the Electoral Office's registration requirement that a voter should have a verifiable residential address.
I sincerely hope the Solicitor-General's legal research leads him to conclude that there is no such violation. The last thing the country needs is another pool of hapless people which can be used by politicians at election time in return for a 'plate of <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">curry</SPAN> goat.'
Trading their votes
Already, there are too many people who trade their votes for some flimsy partisan political benefits. The country needs less of that, not more.
For years, there have been complaints in some parts of the U.S. that registering homeless people, using shelters and post office boxes, have facilitated fraud in the electoral system by giving undue influence to these transient members of communities.
It's not being suggested that Mr. Henry has an ulterior motive in calling for the franchise for the homeless. But we can't ignore the possibility that this grand idea could easily be transformed into some foul purpose.
Mr. Henry, the Opposition MP for Central Clarendon, was quoted last week as saying that, "Real democracy rests with the fact that if you have nothing, you must retain the right to vote. If you live under a bus shelter, you must have the right to vote. If you live in a canal, you must have the right to vote."
It all sounds good. But going down this line is not a productive use of national <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink3 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,3); style="POSITION: relative; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,3); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,3); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061031/cleisure/cleisure3.html#" target=_new><FONT style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative" color
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