The Implications of ICT on Voting Behavior in Nigeria. A Case Study of Borno State (2015-2019)
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the impact of ICT in voting in Nigeria
- To ascertain the relationship between ICT and election in Nigeria
- To ascertain the behavior of voters towards ICT
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
WHAT IS VOTING BEHAVIOUR
Samuel S. Eldersveld in his article „Theory an Method in Voting Behaviour Research‟ writes: “The term „voting behaviour‟ is not new. But it has been used of late to describe certain areas of study and types of political phenomena which previously had either not been conceived or were considered irrelevant.” Voting behavious is not confined to the examination of voting statistics, records and computation of electoral shifts and swings. It also involves an analysis of individual psychological processes (perception, emotion, and motivation) and their relation to political action as well as of institutional patterns, such as the communication process and their impact on election. In the words of Plano and Riggs, “Voting Behaviours is a field of study concerned with the ways in which people tend to vote in public election and the reasons why they vote as they do.” The term voting behaviour has recently been expended in meaning and is taken as one major and board area of study subsumed within the broader designation of political behavior. It involves a study of human political behavior in the context of voting in elections. Voting behaviours studies open windows on the minds of the millions of people who are involved in the political process as voters. These constitute an important area of political science in which theory can be systematically and qualitatively measured and tested. Election refers to a process of democratic participation in which all the people express their opinion about personalities and issues by making on a ballot paper. Election expresses democratic class struggle through voting. Major differences in the political allegiances of different age groups, classes, education, religious or ethnic groups have been reported by voting survey. Voting for right or left depends upon a person’s life experiences. The study of electoral behavior constitutes a very significant area of empirical investigation that takes the subjects of politics very close to the discipline of sociology with the result that a new dimension of advanced study, rather a discipline, is becoming more and more popular with the name of political sociology or sociological politics. Man is a rational creature in the philosophical sense of term; he is not so rational in the realms of his economic and political behaviour. An empirical study of the electoral behavior displays the astounding fact that the behavior of man is influenced by several irrational forces. The role of political parties and pressure groups in invoking religious and communal factors, influence of money or charismatic personality of a leader and a host of other irrational forces have their definite influence on the minds of the voters. The role of these irrational forces can be discovered or discerned in case a student of empirical politics focuses his attention on how the favorable results of an election are obtained. This fact applies to every democratic system and, as such, India is no exception. However, keeping the case of Indian voting behavior in view,Prof.V.M.Sirsikar well observes: “An enquiry into the process of election indicates factors other than rationality. It may be said that India has secured a stable government, but the mass manipulation, casteist influences, minority fears, and charismatic hold of the Prime Minister have played no main part in this process. Voting behavior refers to how the electorates vote and what determines the way they vote. According to Ball and Peters (2000), voting behavior is ―important in those political systems in which the voter has some sort of choice, no matter how limited‖ (156). They identified three broad approaches to voting behavior namely: party identification model; the rational choice approach; and the sociological approach (Ball and Peters, 2000: 157). They described the approaches as follows (p. 160): In the party identification model, party identification determines the choice of candidate to vote for even though personality of candidates and presentation of issues and organization of campaigns could help change the choice. In the rational choice approach the choice is based on expectations of the voter and but some traits of the voter may intervene in making the choices between candidates. The sociological factor focuses on the voter‘s class, religion, age gender and group tend to stand the time even though still has further issues within. Of the three approaches however, the sociological approach best explains the Nigerian (and most democratizing societies‘) elections. In their characterization of political participation in the less developed countries, Hague et all noted that participation is typically limited in quantity and manipulative in quantity‖ (167); among the reasons include low levels of education, poverty and generally limited state penetration of the country side‖ (p. 168). In the final analysis, what drives politics is the patron client relationship. The consequence of this pattern of voting based on regional/ethnic considerations will be discussed as it related to the 2015 General elections. However, the pattern is not as negative as some observers have noted as long as groups have channels of communication for their group and individual interests. As Beetham (1993) pointed out, the political liberties intrinsic to democracy depend upon a plurality of power centers capable of checking one another. (p. 66).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to the implications of ICT on voting behavior in Nigeria
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information the implications of ICT on voting behavior in Nigeria. 200 INEC staff of Borno State was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the implications of ICT on voting behavior in Nigeria
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of ICT on voting behavior in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on the implications of ICT on voting behavior in Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the impact of ICT in voting in Nigeria, to ascertain the relationship between ICT and election in Nigeria and to ascertain the behavior of voters towards ICT. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of INEC in Borno state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up returning officers, supervisors, presiding officers and collation officers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The use of the ICT, specifically card reader resulted to several debates before, during and after the 2015 general elections. However, the important impact of the device regardless of its various challenges during the election cannot be quantified. Although, the card reader deployment by INEC was to improve the electoral process and deepen the democratic process, however, lack of trust, suspicion and altercations among the stakeholders with vested interest in the election created tension within the body polity. With the use of the card reader in the 2015 general elections and the gradual deployment of technology in subsequent general elections in Nigeria, the prospect of Nigeria belonging to one of the countries of the world where elections are driven largely by technology is quite close. Going forward, Nigeria should emulate countries such as Estonia, Namibia and Brazil that have used evoting successfully. The introduction of PVCs and Card Readers into the 2015 general elections reduced electoral fraud and time wasting. That is an indication that Nigeria can improve through the adoption of advanced ICT in the conduct of elections. INEC still needs to undergo continuous restructuring especially in areas such as staffing and staff development. INEC should be capable of boasting of a workforce that is well qualified as well as efficient. The training of staff is required especially as new technologies are beginning to displace the old methods of conducting elections.
Recommendation
Based on the findings of this study, the researchers recommended that:
- There is need for INEC to consult widely and carryout necessary and effective campaigns on the card reader and any other technology to be used in future elections.
- Adequate training of election of temporary and permanent INEC officials should be conducted ahead of time in future elections including practical demonstrations on using the device effectively.
- Card readers should be sufficient and made available during the training session. Each of the trainees should undergo a mock test during training.
- INEC must frequently update and re-examine the importance of the card reader to future elections in Nigeria because technology is changing and the level of technological change is rapid such that a device used five years ago may not be too relevant or as relevant to the present day.
- The use of Electronic Card Reader must be perfected to avoid technical hitches as experienced during the last elections
References
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