Electoral Challenges Research Articles

Institutionalising inclusion

Inclusion within the electoral process is crucial for democratic societies, ensuring all citizens can participate regardless of background. The study explores how institutional frameworks, particularly electoral management bodies like the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), facilitate or hinder inclusivity through their operational mandates. Drawing on data from Election Observation Missions and other sources, this analysis evaluates the ZEC's performance in candidate inclusion, accessibility of polling stations, voter education initiatives, and representation of marginalised groups such as women and youth. Key findings reveal that while ZEC implemented measures to enhance inclusion, challenges persisted, such as accessibility issues for voters with disabilities and uneven voter education coverage. Through a historical backdrop and contextual framework, this paper delves into the role of electoral institutions in promoting democratic processes and enhancing inclusion. The findings underscore both achievements and challenges encountered by the ZEC, suggesting areas for future improvement and policy refinement to strengthen electoral inclusivity through institutional means. The study concludes by recommending enhanced financial and legislative support for ZEC to bolster its operational capacity and collaboration with other institutions. Addressing these recommendations could mitigate common electoral challenges and further embed inclusive practices within Zimbabwe's electoral framework.

“The Explosive Ingredients Are Here” Mexican American Municipal Electoral Challenges in South Texas, 1963–1965

Abstract This article examines the unsettled landscape of racial and political relations between and among Mexican Americans and Anglos in South Texas from 1963 to 1965, as liberal Mexican American civil rights activists organized to challenge longstanding Anglo power, driving fear, anger, and backlash among Anglos and exacerbating divisions among Mexican Americans across lines of class and ideology. In three sections, the work investigates a series of threatened, attempted, and successful municipal electoral challenges by Mexican American voters beyond the well-known and widely publicized such event in Crystal City in 1963. In the first section, the study details the embryonic municipal electoral challenges that erupted before and after Crystal City between 1963 and 1965, showing that Mexican American South Texans supported the overthrow of Anglo political domination. In the second, it sketches the responses of Anglos to what they termed “Latin take-overs,” reflecting the erosion of Anglo dominance. In the third, it examines how the electoral challenges mounted by Mexican Americans revealed internecine ideological and class divisions amongst themselves over the most effective ways to challenge racism, demonstrating the conflicts that undermined their efforts and strengthened those of the Anglos. In so doing, the study challenges and revises the historiography of the Crystal City ‘revolt’ and its legacies.

INNOVATIVE IT SOLUTIONS TO ENHANCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ELECTRONIC ELECTIONS THROUGH BLOCKCHAIN

The shift towards electronic elections is driven by the need for increased efficiency and accessibility. However, the integrity of these systems is continually threatened by issues such as voter fraud, hacking incidents, and the absence of transparent audit trails. Existing solutions often fail to comprehensively address these challenges. This article introduced blockchain technology as a transformative approach to these electoral challenges. Employing methods such as advanced blockchain architectures, enhanced security protocols, and smart contract optimization, it establishes a secure, decentralized, and immutable ledger of votes. These methods counteracted many of the vulnerabilities inherent in traditional systems, achieving a higher standard of transparency, security, and voter privacy that was previously unachievable. The findings from detailed case studies and technological infrastructures discussed in subsequent sections demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods in enhancing election integrity. This examination showcases the relevance and potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing electronic elections, offering a blueprint for secure, transparent, and efficient voting systems.

The institutionalization of “serial personalization” in Argentina's Peronist Party, 1983–2023

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of this article is to explain how Peronism, an allegedly personalist party, has managed to institutionalize its internal power struggles and its succession procedures since democratization in 1983.MethodsThe authors employ the common conceptual framework developed for this special issue. Evidence is drawn from public media, scholarly sources, and participant observation. A two‐tier approach to party adaptation is developed to distinguish the capacity to adjust to electoral challenges from the capacity to adjust to governmental challenges.Results and conclusionThe authors develop the concept of “serial personalization” to describe an informally routinized feature by which middle‐rank and subnational leaders transfer their loyalty from one personalistic leader to another as long as he or she delivers the best possible electoral performance and, when in office, fiscal transferences.

A Contemporary Approach to Designing and Implementing Electronic Voting Systems (EVS)

This study delves into the potential of Electronic Voting Systems (EVS) in Ghana, to enhance transparent and trustworthy electoral processes. We presented a comprehensive framework highlighting trust, diaspora engagement, and human factors in voting. The study proposes a robust EVS framework for Ghana, emphasizing trust and accountability, preventing electoral fraud, and encouraging African governments to invest in IT and collaborate with experts in e-government and e-voting systems. We commence with a detailed systems analysis, identifying specific electoral challenges in Ghana. An artifact is designed and developed, and the artifact's effectiveness is demonstrated through Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). We evaluated its alignment with the desired solution for Ghana's electoral issues. We emphasize the potential of EVS to address electoral challenges in Ghana and underscore the importance of proactive government policies, IT investments, and collaboration with IT experts. User acceptance testing achieved a remarkable 98% approval rate, showcasing the feasibility of implementing EVS at the national level. This research underlines the pivotal role of EVS in Ghana and advocates for visionary government policies and investments in IT. These measures can modernize electoral systems, align them with international standards, and promote democratic progress while preventing electoral fraud in Ghana and other African nations to avoid condemnation and punishment of unconstitutional transfers of power that are being challenged by meticulously planned takeovers.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The democratic transition on the African continent has been accompanied by problems of poor governance, poor administration, third terms and centralized power, electoral administration conundrums, and corruption. This paper examines the overarching problems in Africa, including electoral challenges, the third term and centralization of power, societal, social, and economic governance, and the death of ethics. This is a desktop study, also known as a conceptual study, that is based on Asante's Afrocentricity Theory, which provides pedagogical thinking about power, dominance, racism, and the need to escape victimization. The findings of the article reveal that many African countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Nigeria, face significant challenges due to poor governance and maladministration. The paper concludes by stating that to address the challenge of poor governance and maladministration in African countries, a multifaceted approach is necessary. One potential innovative solution is to increase transparency and accountability in government institutions using technology and data-driven decision-making. This could involve the implementation of digital systems for monitoring and reporting on government activities as well as the creation of independent oversight committees to ensure public officials are held accountable for their actions.

The Church and the Quest for Peaceful and Credible Elections in Ghana

The article is a critical reflection on the role of the church in the search for credible and peaceful elections in Ghana. Ghana has had eight general elections under the 4th Republic since 1992. The elections have been characterised by violence, cheating, and loss of property and in some instances lives. The church, civil society organizations, advocacy groups, donor agencies, etc. have played various roles to ensure free, fair, and credible elections. The general elections in Ghana however are not devoid of electoral challenges. The article argues that despite the challenges associated with general elections in Ghana, the church’s contribution over the years is still relevant and inevitable and therefore must be deepened for future general elections. The article pays attention to reports on general elections in Ghana by key organizations like the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the European Union, the African Union, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), and the Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa on elections in Ghana. The article concludes with a recommendation that the church must deepen its programmes, resources, and capacity of its personnel for future elections as the nation keeps searching for lasting solutions to its electoral challenges. The quest for credible and peaceful elections should be done on the principles of dialogue, consensus building, and the very Constitution which governs the nation. The church must deepen its public education, mediation, reconciliation, and spiritual support dimensions to the electoral process. Keywords: Public Theology, African Christianity, Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa, General Elections in Ghana

Does Public Financing Motivate Electoral Challengers?

AbstractDo attempts to level the financial playing field lead more candidates to run for office? In theory, public financing should increase competition, presumably because additional funding from taxpayers motivates more challengers to run for office. I provide a novel test of this logic with data on all candidates running for state legislature across all US states between 1976 and 2018. The results suggest that public financing exerts a generally positive effect on the total number of candidates running for state legislative office and specifically increases the number of candidates running in elections for every additional year after the passage of public financing. This effect is amplified in states that offer greater amounts of public funds. I conclude that the availability of public financing can be an equalizing force in elections, and that state legislative elections continue to experience increased competition in the years after the introduction of public financing.

Election petition and the future of electoral reforms in Ghana

The results of Ghana’s 2012 and 2020 elections were challenged in the nation’s Supreme Court. Even though the court processes in both cases did not alter the election results, they nevertheless exposed monumental flaws in the electoral processes. The flaws in the 2012 electoral processes were exposed at the Supreme Court and featured in the final judgment of the court in a manner that allowed the Electoral Commission to initiate moves towards electoral reforms. However, the challenges of the 2020 elections, though exposed at the courts, were never featured in the final judgment of the Supreme Court. This paper discusses the implications of the 2020 election petition for the future of electoral reforms in Ghana. It argues that the rigid application of the letter of the law by the Supreme Court and the relegation to the background of the thorny issues of electoral challenges in the 2020 elections, would render the quest for further electoral reforms difficult. This would then make the future of any attempt to fine-tune the electoral processes quite bleak.

The People’s Priorities: Recognition, Redistribution and Conservative Hegemony

The article examines the emergence of the “Red Wall” as a descriptive term deployed in explanations of Labour’s electoral collapse and the Conservative’s new direction as the party of those who have been left behind by the free mobility of labour and de-industrialisation. While there is a growing body of literature that examines the continuous adaptability of the Conservatives to electoral challenges as well as to meeting social, cultural, and economic anxieties via the concepts of statecraft and the de-alignment of the British electorate, there is little published as to how the construction of a new collective identity — that of the “Red Wall” — has reinforced the hegemony of the Conservative party. The article makes three different yet interconnected arguments. First, the Conservative campaign and governing needs to be contextualised within the debate on the recognition of identity and re-distribution of wealth. Second, the “Red Wall” did not pre-exist political campaigns and respective policies but instead has been constructed and communicated to solidify a new conservative hegemony. Third, the “Red Wall” is part of a political-communicative tactic of constructing collective identities based on cultural stereotypes, location and professional occupation in line with Margaret Thatcher’s “Essex Man” and Tony Blair’s “Mondeo Man” for indicating ideological shifts and electoral trends.

The role of electoral appeals in giving legitimacy to the general elections - a comparative study between Syria, Egypt and France: دور الطعون الانتخابية في إضفاء صفة المشروعية على الانتخابات العامة - دراسة مقارنة بين سورية ومصر وفرنسا-

This research aimed at clarify the role of electoral appeals in legitimizing the general elections in all its stages. The descriptive analytical approach and the comparative deductive approach were relied upon to reach the desired results, the most important of which are: 1- Electoral disputes and challenges arising from them are considered a tool to achieve the legitimacy of the general elections. 2- The electoral register is one of the foundations of the legality of the election. 3- The right to run for office is a right guaranteed to all citizens who meet the conditions specified by laws. Among the most important recommendations: 1- An accurate and comprehensive electoral appeals system should be developed that is characterized by simplicity and speed of decision making. 2- The Syrian legislator should follow in the footsteps of the Egyptian and French legislation in determining the right of others to challenge the voter register. 3- Building integrated and accurate systems for electoral appeals and adopting the successful experiences of some countries.

Labour’s Neighbours: reconceptualising the Ramsay Street boom and British politics from Thatcher to Blair

ABSTRACT This article considers two overlapping phenomena: the huge popularity of the Australian soap opera Neighbours in Britain during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the failure of the Labour Party to mount a successful electoral challenge until the leadership of Tony Blair. It argues that Neighbours’ appeal—community focussed, friendly, classless, unthreatening, a mixed economy, and in some ways small ‘c’ conservative—was precisely the platform that Labour needed to convince voters (particularly women and those living in suburbs) that it failed to reach between 1983 and 1992. Neighbours offered an albeit imagined and fictionalised window into Bob Hawke’s Australia that many of the British electorate found attractive, but until the Labour party tapped into such support, significant numbers of ‘floating voters’ would continue to back the Social Democratic Party and, subsequently, John Major’s Conservatives. There were generational dynamics at play here—with the 8 in 10 12–15 year olds who watched the show in 1990 unable to vote at earlier elections, but joining the franchise in time for the first Blair landslide of 1997. Neighbours was of course not the only influence on such voters, but it was a meaningful one.

Electoral support and militants’ targeting strategies

Militant groups that are in armed conflict with a government often coexist with political parties that have ethnic or ideological connections to them. In this article, we explore the extent to which electoral support received by militant associated opposition parties and nationally incumbent political parties influences subnational variation in militant attacks. We argue, and empirically demonstrate, that militants strategically target localities where the levels of electoral support for the opposition party and the nationally incumbent party are close in an effort to negatively influence the electoral performance of the incumbent party. To illustrate this dynamic we examine subnational data from 1995 to 2015 Turkish legislative elections and attacks organized by the Kurdish militants within the same time period. We also examine the impact of June 2015 legislative elections on militant attacks until the snap elections in November 2015. Our empirical examination shows that militants target localities where electoral support for the governing party and Kurdish opposition party is close. Moreover, increase in violence negatively influences the electoral performance of the governing party. However, it does not consistently have a significant influence on the opposition. The findings illustrate that militants strategically choose the location of their attacks based on electoral dynamics, and attacks can pose an electoral challenge to the governing party.

The Conservative Party and DFID: party statecraft and development policy since 1997

ABSTRACT Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to merge DFID with the FCO in June 2020 subordinated development policy to an ill-defined conception of the national interest. It represented the latest twist in the Conservative Party’s fluctuating relationship with the institutionalisation of development policy in Whitehall since 1964. This article contextualises that evolving debate within the Conservative Party, situating it alongside parallel developments in the relationship between DFID and other Whitehall departments since 1997. The article argues that intra-party Conservative debate about DFID is disconnected from the contemporary history of institutional reform and interdepartmental coordination, both during the New Labour years and under Conservative-led governments since 2010. The article emphasises the specific domestic political context of David Cameron’s commitment as Conservative leader to support DFID’s independence and increase development spending, highlighting the equivocal reception of his commitments on the right of the party. The article concludes with criticism of the logic of the Johnson administration’s case for the merger, underlining its similarity with Thatcher era arguments. The merger highlights salient differences between Johnson’s and Cameron’s electoral challenges and party statecraft strategies, reflecting changes in the party and its electoral coalition since the 2016 EU referendum.

Electoral Governance and Human Rights Amid Pandemics in Africa: Key Lessons from the Early COVID-19 Experience

AbstractOver 25 African countries had planned elections for 2020. In the face of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, states resorted to one of two courses of action: adherence to planned electoral timelines in the shadow of the outbreak, which largely led to record low voter turnouts and hastened the spread of the virus; or adjourning elections with ill-defined election programming, constitutional tensions and unrest over delayed polls. The global health crisis not only frustrated the organization of the electoral process but set severe challenges to democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the region at a time of landmark elections, notably in Ethiopia, Burundi and Malawi. This article analyses initial state responses in electoral administration in light of international electoral norms, and interrogates the role of national and regional mechanisms in securing safe, inclusive, timely, free and fair elections amid new infectious disease outbreaks.

Distributive politics and electoral competition for the Kurdish vote

ABSTRACT Competition for the Kurdish vote has been important in contemporary Turkish politics. Focusing on the non-contributory health insurance program in the early period of AKP rule, this article shows that this competition also affected the distribution of benefits. Kurdish citizens’ likelihood of holding a Green Card increased with the competitiveness of the district between the AKP and Kurdish-oriented parties. The number of Green Cards and social spending were also higher when a Kurdish-oriented party posed an electoral challenge. These findings reveal the electoral calculation behind AKP’s strategy of favoring Kurdish voters as well as the importance of political organization for the minority group’s access to benefits.

Constructing the ‘liberal’ Muslim other: ethnic politics, competition, and polarisation in Malaysia

ABSTRACT This contribution extends the sectarianisation thesis to analyse the construction of the ‘liberal’ Muslim other in Malaysian politics. It argues that political competition, rather than religion, motivated elite Malay state actors to otherise their political rivals as ‘liberal’. Elite state actors leveraged key periods of sociopolitical uncertainty between 1998 and 2020 to reaffirm dominant ethno-religious narratives and construct the meaning of ‘liberal’ as anti-Islam to retain political power. They framed ‘liberal’ Malays as a threat by associating them with non-Malay ethnic minorities and, by extension, with secular values. The contribution builds its argument with an analysis of competing ideas over three time periods, each constituting cumulative stages in the sectarianisation of the ‘liberal’ Muslim other: the 1998 pro-democracy Reformasi movement; religious freedom challenges in the 2000s; and the mounting electoral challenges to the Barisan Nasional government since the 2008 general elections. The analysis demonstrates that the construction of ‘liberal’ sectarian difference occurred despite the absence of a pre-existing ‘liberal’ Muslim identity available for manipulation. The contribution emphasises that sectarianisation can develop in different forms and over cumulative stages that are contingent on local-level complexities and political competition.

Uganda – Electoral Challenge Withdrawn

Uganda – Electoral Challenge Withdrawn

Examining Civil Society Organizations’ Collaboration Paradox in Confronting Electoral Challenges in Enugu State, Nigeria, 1999-2020

Researches critical of electoral freedom and fairness, integrity, financing, and security in Nigeria have challenged Nigeria’s democratization process. However, not many of them have captured these challenges considering the paradox of the civil society organizations’ collaborations (CSOs) in Nigeria. We argued that for civil society to activate the democratization process, a historically structured imbalance through dualism of political and economic collaborations of the civil society should be resolved. The study made use of the Exploratory Research Design, using the Structural-Functional Analysis and the Post-Colonial State theory as frameworks for analyzing the imperativeness of economic collaborations to direct the political collaborations. It made use of mixed method of data collection and analysis, using a sample of 312 respondents drawn from population of 1434 members of civil society organizations. We used the Multilinear Regression model in the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences IBM (SPSS) version 20 to test the statistical hypothesis that: civil society organizations’ uncordial relations with government organizations and their uncordial relations with business organizations are significantly related to their detection of electoral challenges in Enugu State, 1999- 2020. It was found that civil society organizations’ uncordial relationship with government organizations rather than uncordial relationship with business organizations is significantly related to help in detecting electoral challenges in Enugu State, 1999-2020.

Society in the authoritarian discourse

In August 2020, the presidential election took place in Belarus, followed by unprecedented mass protests due to apparent election fraud. Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the country’s long-term authoritarian leader, faced the biggest electoral challenge since his first election in 1994. This article analyzes his official rhetoric during the campaign and after the election focusing on the image of the society. For this purpose, discourse-historical approach is applied to understand his political vision of the developments in Belarus and to explore changes in his rhetoric caused by the unprecedented challenge to his power. The research demonstrates that Lukashenka acts as a classical authoritarian ruler with respective discursive strategies. The text shows that he adopted the imaginary role of Belarus’s strict father, who has assumed full responsibility for its fate and offensively reacts to every challenger of this role. It also reveals that Lukashenka sees his personal contract with the Belarusian society as a stable and durable instrument that does not require changes and per se implies his personal engagement as a party to it. Finally, the analysis of Lukashenka’s rhetoric in 2020 suggests that a voluntary transition of power in Belarus remains rather wishful thinking.