I vote in terms of quality, not gender

I read that political parties are now desperately looking for women to ‘throw’ into the electoral mix so as to satisfy a 30% female representational requirement.

I am anti gender quotas, no matter which of the two genders the bias works in favour of. Women candidates, like all candidates, should be judged on their record and character, rather than their gender. I personally have never considered gender when choosing who to vote for.

The trouble now, I feel, with this gender quota, is that when a quality woman candidate (and there are many) is chosen, she might not get the respect she deserves, as some might believe she got the gig because of her gender. Where is all of this madness going to end? I see in Canada, one party, the NDP, has a rule that only a woman can take a seat originally held by a woman.