We live in a country that gives us the right to vote and this means we get a say in who will run our country.  Unfortunately, there are those who have decided to take a “I don’t care” kind of attitude about elections because they have lost hope in the system or just find it too difficult or tedious to line up and register.  But if you look at the bigger picture, these are just small prices to pay for the right to vote.

Remember, election issues directly affect all of us and by not voting we are actually saying goodbye to our ability to have any influence on important national issues like Charter Change, education, health, the economy, etc.  Also, by not voting in a way we negate our right to complain about government decisions that we don’t agree with, regardless how bad it might be.  By not voting, it’s like saying we don’t care who leads our country and how it will be run.  Finally, we all should vote because we can.  To be able to cast our vote is a huge gift and responsibility, and if we look back at our history, our ancestors have actually fought and died for this right, a right that we should never take for granted.

If you need more information about the upcoming 2010 elections, then check out Yahoo! Philippines online coverage of the elections called Purple Thumb.  Just right now I’m seeing people in the Answers community asking questions about the upcoming automated elections, since this will be new to all of us.

Vandrew asked how computerizing the elections will help solve the issue of cheating while Doctor J asked if automating the elections will do the country good.  Mrs. C shared that it will be good to have automated elections now because it can avoid human error and we can get results in the soonest time possible and not have to wait for months.

To get a better view of how the automated elections will be done, check out this video prepared by the Yahoo! Philippines Editorial Team in partnership with Comelec.  Please feel free to spread the word as well about Purple Thumb because we certainly need to be informed in order to vote responsibly in the coming 2010 elections.

Having such a large number of people in the Answers community lends itself to gauging public opinion through a poll or a survey.  Polls and surveys are allowed on Answers and this week we have some recommendations to help you get the most out of your survey:

Make use of the polls and surveys category: This may sound like we are stating the obvious but consider that placing your poll in the right category will attract responses from people looking to help.  It also makes it clear that your question is intended to garner opinion.

Keep your questions as short as possible: Long questions can lead to misinterpretation and confusion.

Be clear about the information you want: Write questions that everyone will understand in the same way.

Avoid vague and biased questions: Stick to one topic.  The question should point directly to the information that is needed.  Write questions that do not lead people to answer a particular way.

Avoid ‘yes’- ‘no’  and rating questions: It encourages games and chatting and will result in a violation.

Here you have a couple of example of good quality polls and surveys:

http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgjmtPjXsGNdHxR2yR7J9cXk5nNG;_ylv=3?qid=20091009020531AAwL5CA

http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiJcHUZdiQoOe8.JPgdpPer05nNG;_ylv=3?qid=20091009015738AAysmYx

Maybe you have some further tips, feel free to share them in the comments.