The Determinants of Voting Behaviour: Evidences from the 2015 Elections in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study identified the determinants of voting behavior of electorates in the year 2015 general election in Oyo State, Nigeria.  This was done with a view to ascertain whether gender, age and personal ideology affected the voting behavior of the electorates in the election process. The study which is a survey generated its primary data through the administration of questionnaire on 640 randomly selected electorates from 3 randomly selected local government in Oyo State, Nigeria. The retrieved data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in the form of means, standard deviation, t-test and multiple regression.The results revealed that age (β = 0.158; t = 4.051; P<0.05) and personal ideology (-0.135; t = -3.472; P<0.05) significantly predicted electorates’ voting behavior, while gender (β = 0.068; t = 1.748, P>0.05) did not directly predict the voting behavior of the electorates. This implied that there was no significant difference between the voting behavior of the male and female electorates (t = -1.488; P >0.05).The study concluded that the Nigerian government needs to harness efforts in educating her citizenry on the essence of voting as a civic duty which should not be affected by age, or gender. This would improve the personal ideology of the electorates to the level that guarantees sustenance of democracy.