Electoral system

Meaning;

An electoral system may be defined as a process or method through which the people of a given country elect their representatives into different political offices or positions in government. It also includes the conditions and processes for the nomination of candidates for elective posts including procedure and rules of election.

TYPES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEM

1. Single-member Constituency and Single vote: This system is referred to as “first past the post” or simple majority system. A candidate who  has the highest number of votes cast win the election, Britain, USA, Canada e.t.c. are examples of this system
2. Single Member and Second ballot: Failure of any candidate to receive absolute majority at the first ballot, a second one is held with the weaker candidates either choosing or being required to retire e.g France
3. Single member with Preferential vote: This system allows the electorate to place the candidate in order of preference. The votes of the weaker candidates being distributed to the stronger ones according to second, third e.t.c
4. Proportional Representation: The essence of proportional representation is to allocate seats in proportion to the votes cast in multi-member constituencies. There are two types of proportional representative. These are:

• The List System: The electorate votes for a list of candidates presented by a political party and each party wins the number of seats in that party list.
• Single Transferable vote: All the candidates in a multi-member constituency are marked in order of preference by the voters. After counting the votes, an electoral quota is established i.e. the minimum number of votes needed by a candidate to win one of the seat, the surplus votes are redistributed to other candidates according to the voters of preference

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ELECTORAL SYSTEM

1. An independent and impartial electoral body should be put in place
2. There should be regular or periodic elections as stipulated in the constitution. This will help to eliminate any president who intends to perpetuate himself in power
3. It is important for the delimitation of the country into constituencies
4. Qualified adult citizens should exercise their right of voting
5. Without fear of molestation, intimidation and victimization voting should be conducted
6. Counting of votes: This should be made public and with immediate release of results
7. The people should be properly educated about their political rights, elections and about the political system e.t.c

MERITS OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

1. Proportional Representation: The proper consideration of each vote cast, making the notion ‘one man, one vote, one value’ a reality.
2. It is democratic
3. Equal Right: proportional representative permits all seat to be given equal weight
4. It is a truly representative government: the system ensures a truly representative government
5. It permits free expression of individual opinion

DEMERITS OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

1. Weak Government: Since each state or party is represented according to its population, a weak government may be produced
2. Proportional Representation is based on false assumption
3. It is difficult and seen as a complex electoral system
4. Many splinter groups may emerge in the system
5. It reduces party discipline

PLURALITY SYSTEM: This is also referred to as ‘first past the post’ or simple majority system. In this system, the candidate who scores the highest number of votes is deemed elected.

MERITS OF PLURALITY SYSTEM

1. It enables a voter to vote directly for or against a particular candidate, party or policy
2. The procedure is simple and it appeals to both literate and illiterate electorate
3. It produces a winner after the first ballot
4. It is economical because it saves money, time and energy e.t.c

DISADVANTAGES OF PLURALITY SYSTEM

1. There may be possibility of rigging
2. The system does not produce result that reflect the wishes of the majority
3. The system may enthrone a government that is not popular

SECOND BALLOT SYSTEM: This system involves two ballot (elections) at the first instance the successful candidate is required to obtain an absolute majority of the vote cast(50 percent plus one). If this is not obtained by any of the candidate a second ballot is required and those having low results will be eliminated. And the winning candidate is required to obtain the single majority.

THE ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM: In this system each voter is given the permission to indicate the choice of candidates in order of preference i.e 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd and if there’s no absolute majority the candidate who scored least can be dropped and is vote distributed to other candidate according to the second preference of the voters

ABSOLUTE MAJORITY SYSTEM: In this system a candidate must score more than half of the votes cast before he can be declared the winner

ADVANTAGES OF ABSOLUTE MAJORITY SYSTEM

1. It is reflection of the wishes of the people
2. There’s no room for unpopular candidate
3. It produces credible candidates

DISADVANTAGES

1. It is expensive and time consuming
2. It encourages rigging of result

ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Electoral commission is a body responsible for organizing and conducting elections in a political system. It can also be seen as an independent and impartial body responsible for conducting and organizing all elections in a given country. It has the chairman as the head and other members of the commission. In Nigeria for example, FEDECO was the commission responsible for the 1979/83 second republic elections, NEC was responsible for the conduct of the third republics election which was aborted while INEC conducted the 1998/1999 general elections for the fourth republic and till date.

Functions of an Electoral Commission

1. It registers political parties according to laid down rules and regulations.
2. It has the sole power to organize free and fair election in a country.
3. Eligible voters are registered by the commission.
4. The body makes provision for necessary materials needed for elections.
5. It does the appointment and training of electoral officers.
6. The commission gives financial grants to political parties.
7. They enlighten the electorates about issues involved in elections.
8. The commission provides adequate security at the polling stations.

Roles of Various Electoral Officers

1. Conduct elections
2. Registration of Voters
3. Constituency delimitation (division of constituencies)
4. Supervision of erection of polling booths
5. Appointment of presiding and returning officers
6. Registration of political parties
7. Compilation of voters register
8. Screening and registration of political aspirants, (candidate) who will contest the general election from each of the political parties
9. Provision of Security on the day of the election
10. Disqualification of certain people from contesting and voting
11. Announcement of the election result immediately after the election (declaration of winners)
12. Verification of Claims made by political parties for purposes of registration and issuing clearance certificates to certain category of political aspirants or contestants.

Exercises

1. Define electoral system.
2. Outline the types of electoral systems.
3. What are the characteristics of an electoral system?
4. Explain the features of a pluralistic system.
5. Outline the role of an electoral commission.