The Palau Election Commission had reported prior to the General Election that there were 14,196 registered voters – some have passed since then. After the election, without consideration of the results, it has been proven that most of the voters reside outside of the states they are registered to vote in – a sure sign that many of them have vague knowledge of what really goes on in the respective states.
Yet, when it comes to electing candidates who are most knowledgeable about the needs of the people living in the states, more often than not, it is the voters who reside outside the states who are likely determine who should take office.
I am beginning to think that laws should be passed to require all voters to reside in the states they are registered to vote in – if they move, so should their voting registry. Amendments should later be proposed to mandate that no Palauan is eligible to vote in Palau if he or she has not resided in Palau within 3 years prior to any state or national election – current provision of the laws require that candidates elected to office must be of a certain age and should meet residency requirements before they are even qualified to run for office.
I hope for all of my relatives, who have lived elsewhere for the past so many years, to return to Palau and experience the life. It is as difficult as purported to be, and I am certain that people who have not lived it are in no positive to dictate which direction it should progress to.
It is not my intention to make those of you who reside outside of Palau feel less Palauan. If you have Palauan blood running in you, then you are as Palauan as any Palauan can be; however, sound decisions are made based on concrete and valid information and you just might lack the necessary experience to decide how I much should be contributed during a funeral and when and where a relative’s funeral should take place.
And those of you on line, surfing the net for information is not it. While you are on line, your relatives are in line to make contributions to traditional obligations that currently has no established websites. You need to get linked – come home.
