VOTER PHLEGM AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR KENYA

By Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor

Worth Noting:

• The effects of voter apathy definitely are dire to the nation. Courtesy of lacking interest in matters politics and elections definitely means that they will not participate in election and they will not care about issues that go on in the country. Despite them facing negative consequences of bad leadership.
• The Constitution empowers citizens how they can participate in the governance of the nation for after all sovereignty belongs to the people and power is delegated to the three arms of government. This means that the leadership elected will be legal but not legitimate. If majority never participate in elections yet a government gets into office that will be an illegitimate government.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission did end the enhanced voter registration phase two on 6^th February 2022. This exercise was done in all the one thousand four hundred and fifty county assembly wards in Kenya, institutions of higher learning and Huduma centres countrywide. The same exercise also took place in United States of America, Qatar, Germany, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, United Arab Emirates, Canada, United Kingdom, Burundi and South Sudan. According to Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission by close of business on 6^th February 2022, enhanced continuous voter registration phase two had realized a total of one million, thirty one thousand six hundred and forty five new voters. This means that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission failed to attain the target it had set of 4.5 million voters. One of the Commissioners of the electoral commission noted that voter apathy is to blame. So, what is voter apathy?

Voter apathy refers to a lack of interest in participating in elections by certain groups of voters. One side-effect of voter apathy can be low voter turnout on election day if voting is non-compulsory. In countries or areas with compulsory elections, voter apathy may manifest itself in the form of a high proportion of spoilt ballots or donkey votes. Put differently, Voter apathy occurs when eligible voters do not vote in public elections. Outside of election time, voters may seem disillusioned with the political process or politicians in general. In a country supposedly run by elected officials, disenchanted and inactive citizens can present problems. For example, when very few people vote, the politicians elected do not represent the beliefs and values of the general population. Voter apathy has been compared with a sort of political depression, where one feels helpless and unable to influence important events.

There are two primary causes of voter apathy that is alienation and voter fatigue. Alienation is defined as, “this refers to the sense that voters feel like the political system does not work for them and any attempt to influence it will be a fruitless exercise.” On the other hand, voter fatigue is defined in political science as, “voter fatigue is the apathy that the electorate can experience under certain circumstances, one of which could be that they are required to vote too often.” It seems this is the situation in Kenya with especially the youths.

A simple survey among the youths and other persons who have been voting in Kenya depicts voter apathy at its best. Kenya being a democracy, elections play a fundamental role in the general governing of the nation. Elections make a fundamental contribution to democratic governance. Because direct democracy—a form of government in which political decisions are made directly by the entire body of qualified citizens—is impractical in most modern societies, democratic government must be conducted through representatives. Elections enable voters to select leaders and to hold them accountable for their performance in office.

If those are the reasons elections are important then why is it that Kenyans are not interested in elections? Talking to Kenyans they are tired of ineffective leadership from the various elected officials from the Members of County Assembly, Senators, Members to National Assembly, Governor, Women Representative and Presidents. Not forgetting the various members of Executive realm of government. To them, these leaders have been after their own self-interest and the leaders don’t care about them. A good example the economy of the country is in a crisis, the debts are accumulating each time and the debt ceiling is being raised, the taxes have increased, petroleum prices have increased overtime, corruption is on the rise and the leadership isn’t responsive to the needs of citizens. Courtesy of these, citizens have decided to engage in matters elections. Additionally, lack of confidence in the election management bodies in holding free, fair and credible elections is another contributing factor to voter apathy in Africa in general. What’s the effect of the same?

The effects of voter apathy definitely are dire to the nation. Courtesy of lacking interest in matters politics and elections definitely means that they will not participate in election and they will not care about issues that go on in the country. Despite them facing negative consequences of bad leadership. The Constitution empowers citizens how they can participate in the governance of the nation for after all sovereignty belongs to the people and power is delegated to the three arms of government. This means that the leadership elected will be legal but not legitimate. If majority never participate in elections yet a government gets into office that will be an illegitimate government.

This illegitimate government can continue with the ills of the previous administration and perhaps if people could have voted it could usher in a new regime and better polices could have been implemented. That means that one hundred votes will determine a lot just like one hundred thousand votes will also determine who wins elections. Voter apathy therefore compromises the legitimacy of the government and the legitimacy of any government can be made strong through a widespread participation of the majority citizens through an election.  By bad leadership chipping in the cycle of loss of confidence in the leadership will continue but how will the problem be resolved? It is simple; the citizens have to participate in elections.

Voter apathy might lead to a decrease in the democratic ideals of the country. In a survey conducted out the participants of the study revealed that voter apathy made election results not to reflect the will of the people. This is in consonance with the words of Blais and Dobrzynska who argued that, the lower the turnout, the greater the chance that the election result is not the outcome preferred by the population of potential voters. It was made clear by one of the participants in the study who clearly stated that, “voter apathy makes it possible for minorities to defeat majorities”.

Similarly, voter apathy is devastating to the growth of electoral democracy of Kenya because people are not accurately represented. As a result, the country continues to function based on a small group of people‘s opinions. This meant that people who always vote make the decisions, even if those decisions did not benefit the country as whole.

Voter education may be the best solution for apathy because it helps people understand that while countrywide problems need to be dealt with, participation in local elections is one way of taking action to fix the situation in their own neighbourhood. To be truly effective and see concrete change, it is important not just to vote but also to hold the elected officials accountable and even influence them by offering suggestions. The conduct of elections is an important element of a democratic government. Legitimacy of the leadership depends on active participation of the electorate and representation of popular will. Through elections, citizens give their consent to the regime / ensuring representation of popular will and secures the legitimacy of the political system.

Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus. He regularly comments on legal, political, social and contemporary issues.