Casting a ballot was a right.
One got a national identification
And a voter’s registration card
For a particular polling station.
Schemes sprung up among parties
That killed democracy to the core.
Agents emerged and pounced
On unsuspecting voters on D-day,
With conning to go with it.
Not knowing how to read and write
Became very dangerous
For one’s vote was in jeopardy.
Paid agents
Bullied illiterate voters
As allies held their hands
And they were made to X names
On pictures they did not like
Not knowing they were actually
Choosing them over who
They wished to vote for.
What a sad day that was and still is!
Back home they boasted
How they eliminated so and so
Only to be told that
They actually backed
The wrong horses.
Agents had given them
Two pounds of sugar or meat each
To beguile them, as a thank you gift
For exercising constitutional right.
What a world we live in!