Illegal Measures Influencing Voting Behavior in Traditional Communities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa District Dir Upper

Abstract

The present study aimed to probe the illegal measures influencing voting behavior (VB) in traditional communities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. To obtain study objectives, a sample size of 317 respondents (212 males and 105 females) were picked from 12 randomly selected villages belonging to 06 selected union councils (UC) of 06 tehsils in District Upper Dir, KP. A conceptual framework comprised of illegal measures (independent variable) and voting behavior (dependent variable). Data was collected through a pre-tested interview schedule; chi-square and Fisher exact tests were applied to get the results. Based on chi-square test statistics, the association between VB and illegal measures attributes was found significant as dismantled as the use of legal and illegal means in an election (P=0.026); made wealth especially (P=0.008); converted the overall politics into money politics (P=0.007); to coax poor voters deny their role in the decision-making process (P=0.037) respectively. At the multivariate level, results dismantled the associations between illegal measures, and VB was non-spurious for both males and females (while controlling the gender of the respondents). Corrupt electoral practices, raising campaign funds by making promises of illegal benefits, provoking agents of influencing VB negatively in order to conduct elections in a very free and fair manner, effective policies along with the implementation of court verdicts along with some moral values in the code of conduct against illegal measures are the needs of the day in light of the present study.