Rome Igbinerediauwa Omoregie, Ukponmwan Osayande Omigie

Keywords: Voter apathy, electoral fraud, democracy, house of assembly

Abstract

This study analyzes voters’ apathy in the Edo State House of Assembly election held on March 18th, 2023. The paper compares the unexpectedly high turnout for the presidential election with the significantly low turnout rate of just 16.63% for the House Assembly election. The research methodology employed in this study involved a thorough review of various secondary sources such as journals articles and newspapers. The study results identified electoral violence, fraud, and intimidation which were witnessed in the presidential election as the factors that generated voter apathy in the State House of Assembly election in Edo State, Nigeria. The study concludes that it is imperative to increase voter participation in subsequent elections in Edo State, Nigeria. The study recommends that electoral institutions should take proactive measures to ensure a peaceful and transparent voting process, while voters should be encouraged to exercise their democratic rights by participating in the electoral process.

Author Biography

Rome Igbinerediauwa OMOREGIE, Ukponmwan Osayande OMIGIE

Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Benin, Nigeria

Igbinerediauwa.omoregie@uniben.edu, ukponmwan.omigie@uniben.edu

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