Low Voter Turnout in Elections and Democratic Development in Nigeria's Fourth Republic
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Date
2020
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Department of Political Science, University of Ilorin
Abstract
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Since the country's return to democratic rule, elections have been
conducted on a regular basis. The standard of some of these elections have
been a source of worry topolitical stakeholders. While some of the elections
were seriously flawed by all sorts of electoral malpractices and frauds,
others were described as credible. However, the decreasing number of
citizens' involvement in the voting process in the Fourth Republic has
generated more worries as regards the destiny ofthe nation's democratizing
process. Voterturnout during (Presidential) elections in the Fourth Republic
has been on the decrease particularly after the 1999 Presidential elections.
Since 2003 voter turnout has been constantly decreasing the worst decrease
being that of the 2015 elections. It was discovered among others that the
major causal factors of low voters turnout was: voter apathy which was
largely brought about by violence and inadequate security during election
periods; electoral malpractices and frauds; long registration and voting
process; and non fulfilment of electoral promises. The constant decline in
turnout since 2003 is a clear indication of the fact that the nation's electoral
process needs atotal overhaul. Though mindful of the fact that elections are
conducted on a regular basis since 1999, the number of people involved in
the actual voting process should be of significance to political stakeholders
in order to ensure awell developed democratic system. Toencourage turnout
in future elections there is the need to embark on extensive rigorous voter
mobilization.