Leadership and Democracy
Senior 2 · English
Leadership and Democracy
Lesson 2 of 4
25 min
In a few years you will be 18, and you will be able to vote. Before that day, you need to know who you are voting for, how the vote works, and what each institution does. News reports about elections are full of sentences like "The results were announced on Monday" and "Deputies are elected for five years." These sentences use the passive voice, which you will learn in this lesson.
This passage was written by Ganzaa from facts in English Wikipedia articles on Rwanda's Parliament and elections.
Rwanda's Parliament (Inteko Ishinga Amategeko) makes the country's laws and checks the work of the government. Since 2003, it has had two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
The Chamber of Deputies has 80 members. Fifty-three of them are elected directly by voters in a nationwide vote, mostly from lists of candidates put forward by political parties. Twenty-four seats are reserved for women, who are elected by councils in the provinces and the City of Kigali. Two deputies are elected by the National Youth Council to represent young people, and one is elected by the Federation of the Associations of the Disabled. Deputies are elected for a five-year term. Thanks to the reserved seats and to the many women elected on party lists, the Chamber has one of the highest shares of women of any parliament in the world.
The Senate has 26 members. Twelve are elected by local councils, and two are elected by the staff of universities. The other twelve are appointed: eight by the President of the Republic and four by the Forum of Political Organisations.
The President of the Republic is elected directly by the citizens for a five-year term. There is only one round of voting, and the candidate with the most votes wins. In July 2024, Rwandans voted for the President and for members of the Chamber of Deputies on the same day.
Every citizen aged 18 or over has the right to vote. Elections are organised by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). At local level, leaders are elected directly by citizens only in the cell; members of sector and district councils are elected by the councils below them, and local candidates may not campaign for a political party.
How many members do the two chambers have altogether?
80 + 26 = 106.
Which groups have deputies elected specially to represent them?
Women (24 seats), young people (2) and people with disabilities (1).
How is the President elected?
Directly by the citizens, in one round; the candidate with the most votes wins.
Ask someone to read this script aloud at normal speed, or read it aloud yourself. Close your book and, while you listen, note the key word in each step.
First, the voters' list is updated and displayed, so that every citizen can check that his or her name is on it. Next, candidates hand in their applications, and the approved candidates are announced by the Electoral Commission. Then the campaign begins: manifestos are presented at meetings and on the radio. On election day, each voter goes to a polling station. Your identity card is checked and your name is found on the list. You are given a ballot paper, and you mark your choice in secret, behind a screen. Then the ballot paper is folded and put into the ballot box. When the polling station closes, the votes are counted in front of observers. Finally, the provisional results are announced, and the final results are published a few days later.
Key words: voters' list → candidates → campaign → polling station → identity card → ballot paper → secret → ballot box → counted → results.
Compare these two sentences:
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| present simple | The NEC organises elections. | Elections are organised by the NEC. |
| past simple | Voters adopted the Constitution in 2003. | The Constitution was adopted in 2003. |
| future | Officials will count the votes tonight. | The votes will be counted tonight. |
Active: The President appoints eight senators.
Passive: Eight senators are appointed by the President.
Irregular past participles appear often in the passive: choose → chosen, give → given, hold → held, write → written, make → made.
Tip
Passive = BE + PP (past participle). The tense lives in be: is/are (present), was/were (past), will be (future). The past participle never changes. Mention the doer with by only when it adds information.
Make passive: The councils elect twenty-four women deputies.
Solution: Twenty-four women deputies are elected by the councils. (plural subject → are; elect → elected)
Make passive: Officials counted the votes in front of observers.
Solution: The votes were counted in front of observers. We can leave out "by officials" because the doer is obvious.
Correct the mistake: The results was announce yesterday.
Solution: The results were announced yesterday. "Results" is plural (were), and we need the past participle (announced).
Put the verb in the correct passive form: The next election ___ (hold) in five years.
Solution: will be held. It is in the future, and hold → held is irregular.
Using the listening script, explain to a friend what happens at a polling station. Use at least four passive verbs.
Model answer: When you arrive, your identity card is checked and your name is found on the voters' list. Then you are given a ballot paper. You mark it in secret, and it is put into the ballot box. In the evening, the votes are counted in front of observers.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
