Sociodemographic Characteristics and Political Attitudes as Correlates of Women Voters’ Electoral Participation in Counties in Kenya

Abstract

This article examines sociodemographic characteristics and political attitudes predicting women voters’ participation in the 2013 general election in Kakamega County, Kenya. Survey data from 372 women voters were collected from this county, the second most populous among the 47 counties in Kenya. Using these data, a two-stage hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with 13 predictors and electoral participation as the dependent variable. In stage one, sociodemographic characteristics accounted for 27 % of the variation in women voters’ electoral participation. In stage two, sociodemographic characteristics and political attitudes contributed to 47 % of the variance in women voters’ participation in the 2013 polls in Kakamega County. Significant predictors of women voters’ electoral participation were: age, education, income, political knowledge, political interest, and sense of civic duty. The article makes recommendations for enhancing women’s electoral participation through legal reforms as well as civic and voter education.