Valuing the Vote

Those who ignore election day should stop a while and note,

That many people fought and died so they could have the vote.

Up till fairly recent times, the vote was for the few,

And people struggled long and hard to see that suffrage grew.

At first the vote was for the rich, and only men at that –

No woman, though she might be rich, could don a voter’s hat.

Later poorer men received the right to have their say;

Demands for greater suffrage simply wouldn’t go away.

Until the women also had the right to play their part

In how the state was governed; with no vote they wouldn’t start.

But there were many passing years before it reached the stage,

That equal voting rights applied to all of adult age.

So there’s an obligation not to waste what has been won,

Through all the ceaseless fighting and campaigning that was done.

It’s also quite a privilege, and as well a source of power

Which if it’s never exercised could well one day turn sour

If there’s  elected by default a government in whose sights

There is a great reduction in their people’s voting rights.