170. Your vote will make a difference

Your vote will make a difference touted the huge Ministry of Information billboards that lit up the metropolis. Fester Jiggins did not believe the claim. Like 43 percent of the population he hadn’t bothered to vote last time as, to his mind, all politicians were bottom-feeding no-good schemers.

Yet for some reason this year’s propaganda to get the vote out resonated with him. Perhaps it was the hipster way the slogans swirled around the voting booth in the funny yet sweet infomercials. Perhaps it were the more gorgeous than ever holograms of barely-clad ladies that walked up to you on Second Street to convince you to exercise your democratic right. Or the free coupons for Sushi World you’d get in exchange for your proof of voting.

But Fester mostly was swept away by the positivism that had engulfed the country since the Ministry of Information had kicked the voting campaign into high gear. Whether gulping down beer in a seedy café or traversing a zebra crossing in the financial heart, all people were talking about was how – despite some obvious flaws – amazing this country was. And could be if every citizen just went out and elected the most competent candidate they could.

In the end  hope for a bright future swept the country to the tune of a 95 percent turn-out on election day. Fester too had walked the 500 yards to his polling station before devoured some tasty chirashi at Sushi World. His candidate in the end was not victorious, but that was irrelevant. The system worked. That was the important thing.

“Even better than we thought it would”, the Minister of Information told the president – now in his sixth term – up North, as both of them glibly oversaw the burning stack of never to be counted ballots.

 

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