Elections, Here We Go Again

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

On Monday, voters from all walks of life will be trooping to the voting booths to cast their votes for the May 2025 Mid-Term Elections.

The right of suffrage has had a colorful history. Challenges to the free exercise of the right to vote have been met throughout history. There was a time when gender and race were hindrances to cast a vote. The Suffragette movement, for instance, started “underground,” gained some traction and later came to fruition after decades of struggle.

With the removal of these restrictions based on color, race or sex, perhaps it can be said that the right to vote is freest today.

Or is it?

The movements in the past seeking the right to vote had been motivated by noble causes. Especially for minorities in society, they had desired of being well represented in countries that are both quintessentially democratic and representative in their form of government.

Yet today, sadly, the ideals and causes that people used to fight for, are deemed long forgotten.

Today, many people vote for no reason if not for the wrong reasons.

Without necessarily implying that people vote because of money, jobs, empty promises of a better life, and other unrealizable offers, it is already troubling that people vote out of hysteria.

Some candidates are fond of gathering people and talk to them or entertain them, momentarily. Other candidates force themselves to shake people’s hands, practice their speeches and even their smiles.

Some rich persons, for their part, would not only provide moral support or their presence, but bankroll the campaign of their chosen candidates.

The hysteria serves to create a smoke that “gets in voters’ eyes.”

Then many forget about the essentials.

People forget to vet their candidates. Are they competent? Is their background suited for the position they are running for?

This columnist still dreams of the day when elections are won by sheer credentials without fanfare. Without hysteria.

Campaigns should be confined to qualifications. Period. No empty promises. No parties. No loud music.

It seems that we are still far removed from the day when all these nonessentials are set aside.

But until that day comes, then and only then can we say that we have been emancipated from the bondage of hysteria and that the elections are truly free.

(The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates (ETRIIILaw)– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and book author. Among the books he authored is Law on Property and Essentials of Land Registration [2024 Edition] which was on the bestseller’s list in online shops for several months. His website is etriiilaw.com).