Elections. The Boss and Voter Intimidation

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The voter is alone in the voting booth, but there is this cold drop on his head about what the boss has been saying for weeks.

“We must not vote for them. We will lose everything we’ve worked for. This farm will be sold. Trucks too. What will happen to that pretty daughter of yours who wants to be a lawyer? She will drop out, and do god knows what. We must not vote for them. You and I were born here. We must keep our values. Don’t vote for them.”

The voter is alone in the voting booth, but he forgets that. He thinks somehow, the boss will find out he voted ‘for them.’ Bosses intimidate workers into voting for the Brown Party, not the Yellow Party. The intimidation can be subtle, or blatant. The boss can also give workers benefits he has been with holding illegally for the past four years, just because the presidential election is a few months away. It is a bribe, a double illegal bribe, but workers don’t know that.

When do employers start voter intimidation? Headlines. Certain stories have a voting angle. Gerrymandering for example. I sometimes see reports about re-engineering voting districts in the South. I’m ashamed to admit that the more I research it, the more I get confused. Locals probably understand it and voter education groups in states like Georgia, are there to help.

Do employers use change of voting boundaries to intimidate workers? They could. The warning is still the same, ‘we must not vote for them.’ 

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

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