Voter education initiatives (veis) in mitigating electoral violence in Sub-saharan Africa’s developing democracies

Abstract

No doubt, electoral violence remains a persistent challenge in many developing democracies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where political instability and weak governance structures exacerbate the risks of violent electoral conflict. Voter education initiatives have emerged as vital tools in promoting peaceful elections, strengthening democratic processes, and reducing electoral violence. This study assessed voter education initiatives in mitigating electoral violence in Sub-Saharan Africa’s developing democracies. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research combines qualitative and quantitative data to explore how effective voter education can address the root causes of electoral violence, such as misinformation, voter apathy, and political intolerance. These countries, Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe have implemented various voter education programmes in their respective electoral cycles, making them ideal for understanding the impact of such initiatives. A combination of focus group discussions, interviews and survey questionnaires, with key stakeholders, such as electoral commission officials, civil society organizations, and voters, will be used to collect data. The instruments will be rigorously tested for reliability. This gap in knowledge calls for empirical research to assess the real impact of voter education programmes and their ability to foster a peaceful electoral environment. Findings revealed that Social media campaigns for voter information (x= 3.34); Online courses and webinars on civic education (x= 3.34), and Public service announcements (PSAs) on voter education (x= 3.34) were top three rated voter education initiatives conducted. Also, VEIs were found to be effective (x= 2.69 as against the threshold of 2.5). The result revealed that young people show little interest in voter education programs (x= 3.36); Ethnic and regional divisions make voter education efforts more challenging. (x= 3.34), and Lack of trained personnel affects the quality of voter education programs (x= 3.33) were top three challenges facing voter education initiatives. In the same vein, Sustained Civic Education Programmes (x= 3.2); Multilingual Voter Education Materials (x= 3.1), and Use of Traditional and Digital Media Platforms (x= 3.09) are top three evident-based mechanisms for enhancing voter education initiatives in mitigating electoral violence in sub-Sahara’s African democracies. It is recommended that the establishment of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the long-term impact of voter education on electoral violence.