Voters’ turnout and economic development

The level of participation of the citizens in every election and ease of transition of power from one administration are key measures of democracy. This is why voters’ turnout review is important from time to time. Other things being equal, it is expected that the larger the population, the larger the number of voters in […]

The level of participation of the citizens in every election and ease of transition of power from one administration are key measures of democracy.

This is why voters’ turnout review is important from time to time. Other things being equal, it is expected that the larger the population, the larger the number of voters in a country’s election and vice versa.

Rachael and Demetrios reporting for Bloomberg stated that the total number of votes cast for the just concluded United States of America’s presidential election will range from roughly 157.1 million to 165.0 million (68.6%–72.1% of the citizen voting-age population).

With about 150 million American votes counted as of Sunday, 8th October, 2020 out of approximately 331 million most recent population projection representing about 45.3% voters turn out versus population, it is important to  note that this voter turnout hits the highest in the history of America.

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) reported that the Nigerian parliamentary elections turnout in 2011, 2015 and 2019 respectively to be 28.66%, 43.65% and 32.14%. Same data also reported 53.68%, 43.65% and 34.75% for Presidential elections in 2011, 2015 and 2019 respectively.

In 2019 presidential election, International IDEA reported that only about 82.3 million people registered for election from an estimated 208 million population in Nigeria as at then. This represents approximately 39.5%. However, only about 28.6 million people actually voted and this represents approximately 34.7% of the total 82.3 million registered voters.

When compared with some other African countries, International IDEA reports 77.37% and 79.49% voter’s turnout for 2017 Kenya’s Parliamentary and Presidential elections respectively. Furthermore, voters’ turnout stood at 67.55% and 68.62% for the 2016 Ghana’s Parliamentary and Presidential elections respectively.

Liberia’s 2017 voters’ turnout recorded 72.49% and 75.19% for Parliamentary and Presidential elections respectively. Tunisia’s 2019 voters’ turnout recorded 41.7% and 55.02% for Parliamentary and Presidential elections respectively.

So, it is logical to conclude that voter’s turnout for election is low in Nigeria in comparison with some other African countries and of course developed countries in other continents. Many factors account for this apathy on the part of the voters; they include violence, voter intimidation, socioeconomic factors, candidate’s popularity, voters’ preferences, tribal factors, political party, and trust in candidates’ abilities.

No wonder our level of development is what it is today. The economy of Nigeria is entirely ravaged with incessant electricity power outage, bad roads, especially in the suburbs; strike and threats of strike in major sectors of the economy; corruption, insecurity, unemployment, reduction in the value of Naira versus key currencies in the world; vote buying and low voters’ turn out in elections, just to mention a few.

Until a higher number of the eligible population of the Nigeria register and vote massively for the candidates of their choice, the benefits of democracy will remain in the cloud in our dear nation. Government at all levels, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other public agencies need to do a little more to ensure higher voters’ turnout in elections.

At large, government need to ensure adequate protection of all voters during elections to further encourage the citizens to turnout more in elections. Rather than just deploying thousands of security operatives, electorates can also be protected via intelligence and the use of technology to identify violent moves. In addition, amending electoral laws to impose stiffer penalty or sentence on perpetrators of electoral violence and killing may go a long way.

Sunday Omojuyigbe can be reached via [email protected]