Voters Apathy And National Identity: A Psychological Exploration

Abstract

Nigeria is a heterogeneous nation comprising of several ethnic groups that speak different dialects. These citizens have deep religious and ethnic affiliations with their own and during elections vote accordingly. Recent political happenings in the electoral process have shown that people have lost interest in voting because their choices have been subverted and this has caused a steady decline in the number of voters who turn out on election day. Voter apathy occurs when voters decide that they really don’t care who wins or loses, and this translates into very low voter turnout (the number of eligible voters who turn out to vote in an election vs the total number of eligible voters). Voter apathy can be caused by a lack of interest in the candidates that are running in an election, a general feeling that a person’s vote doesn’t matter or even distrust in regards to how the election is actually being run. This paper notes the influence of religion, ethnicity and cultural orientation in the manner people vote and how psychological principles such as affective and cognitive restructuring will help to reduce voter apathy in Nigeria.