Women’s Political Rights and Electronic Voting: the Perspective of Nigerian Women and the Law

Abstract

The Beijing Fourth International Conference on Women appropriately sets a standard of 30% of women in elective and appointive positions (Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995). The National Gender Policy (NGP) of Nigeria advocates 35% affirmative action for more inclusive representation of women in elective and appointive positions. Additionally, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes provisions for women’s political rights. Other international legal instruments also protect and promote Nigerian women’s political rights. However, the underrepresentation of women in Nigerian politics remains an issue, due to low participation, even though they have been enfranchised. Thus, this study examines the reasons for the low level of participation of women in Nigerian politics. A socio-legal research methodology was used to gain empirical evidence on the research questions raised. Specifically, the study argues that a number of women do not participate in politics because of the traditional paper ballot electoral system adopted by Nigeria, that if the manual system is substituted for an electronic one, more women are likely to participate in Nigerian politics. Premised on that, the study recommends that the Nigerian Government adopt the electronic voting system to enhance women's participation in politics. The study concludes that a legal framework for viable electronic voting is highly needed.