The main purpose of an election is to put people into position of leadership by way of making choices from available candidates. This can be done in many ways. The following are types of election.
Direct Election
This is the method by which the electorate cast their votes directly in choosing people to represent them in the legislature and other offices in government. Only the qualified voters are allowed to carry out this political exercise.
ADVANTAGES OF DIRECT ELECTIONS
1. It gives voters the freedom of electing members of the legislature without interference
2. It is a necessary requirement of representative government.
3. It guarantee political equality of the citizens i.e. one man one vote.
4. Voters would show more interest in government and will know their representatives.
5. Elected representatives are usually the popular choice of the people.
DEMERITS OF DIRECT ELECTION
1. Several voters may not be able to vote intelligently due to lack of proper political education.
2. Direct voting may cause hatred and embarrassment.
3. It encourages violence during polling as a result of the number of people involved.
4. A lot of rigging is involved in direct election because it is final election to elect representatives.
5. Corrupt-minded candidates may use their wealthy position to buy the votes of the electorates particularly in poor societies.
INDIRECT ELECTION
This is election into the legislature by two or more stages i.e. through Electoral College who will now vote on behalf of the people.
MERITS OF INDIRECT ELECTION
• There is competence on the part of the electors who finally select the members of the legislature.
• It is less violent than direct election.
• The candidates elected through indirect elections are more qualified going by the intelligent level of the people that elected them.
• It is less expensive and with little opportunity of rigging elections and electoral malpractices.
• It increases quality of legislation and administration in a country owing to the candidate’s qualification.
DEMERITS OF INDIRECT ELECTIONS
• The Electoral College can be easily influenced and bribed with money.
• Some interest may not be adequately represented in the legislature.
• The electorate does not know their representatives and this form of election do not reflect popular choice.
• Government policies are not in line with the masses as they did not have the opportunity to choose manifestoes of their choice.
• It does not encourage equality of votes and it is less democratic since they did not vote.
3. Bye-Election: This is a special election that takes place after the main election, in order to fill a vacant post or replace a politician. Bye-election may be conducted as a result of disqualification, resignation or death of the occupant of an office.
4. Primary Election: This is an election conducted within a political party to choose a credible candidate(s) that can represent the interest of the party in any general election.
5. Run-Off Election/Second Ballot: This is the type of election that is conducted just after an election, where none of the candidates has won the election by absolute majority in the general election. Under this situation, on the two candidates with the highest votes are allowed to contest, and a winner emerges by simple majority.
6. Plebiscite: This is the type of election whereby everyone in a country votes on an important decision that affects the whole country. This is usually done as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote by the people, particularly on issues of national importance which concerns them.
7. Referendum: this is a type of election organized in order for citizens to vote for a decision on a subject, rather than a person. Referendum ensures that laws not in conformity with the people’s will/interest are not passed. It is a useful instrument for checking powers of the legislature.
MEANING OF FRANCHISE
Franchise may be defined as the right of qualified adult citizens of a given society to vote and be voted for in an election. The voters are constitutionally called electorate while those seeking to be elected are called candidates.
TYPES OF FRANCHISE
There are two types of franchise namely; limited or restricted franchise and unlimited or universal franchise or universal adult suffrage.
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a. LIMITED OR RESTRICTED FRANCHISE
This is the type of franchise whereby not all qualified adults are allowed to vote or to be voted for. The right to vote is only granted to only those adults that fulfil certain conditions. The criteria may depend on one’s race, sex, property owned, evidence of payment of taxes etc. Example of country that practise limited franchise is South Africa during Apartheid
MERITS OF LIMITED OR RESTRICTED FRANCHISE
1. It gives few well informed citizens the opportunity to vote after critical scrutiny of the candidates.
2. It seems to be more mature elections than unlimited franchise.
3. It makes use of qualified candidates than the universal franchise.
4. It prevents foreigners who do not know much about the candidates contesting elections from voting.
5. Limited franchise disallowed people of unsound mind like lunatics, criminals, bankrupts, etc to vote.
6. Limited franchise reduces the rate of election violence
7. It makes the tax payers to watch their representatives on the utilization of their tax money.
DEMERITS OF LIMITED OR RESTRICTED FRANCHISE
1. It does not give all qualified adults equality of chance to vote.
2. Limited franchise is prone to corruption because, the few people allowed to vote can all be bribed.
3. Those elected through limited franchise do not reflect popular choice.
4. Limited franchise is less democratic.
5. Majority of the citizens of the country do not show interest in the affairs of the government since they were not allowed to vote.
6. Many eligible voters do not know their representatives.
7. The representatives seem to be imposed on the majority of the citizens.
b. UNLIMITED FRANCHISE OR UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE
This is the type of franchise that allows all qualified men and women adults to vote and be voted for. This is the most popular form of franchise. It is constitutional and democratic. However, there are still some qualifications to be met by individuals before voting. Although is not as restricted as in limited franchise. Some of the criteria for voting are; age, citizenship, registration, sanity, bankruptcy, residence etc.
MERITS OF UNLIMITED FRANCHISE OR UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE
1. It gives qualified adults equality of votes.
2. It creates the opportunity of full participation of many citizens of a country in their electoral system.
3. It is a more democratic election.
4. It avoids discriminations based on sex, race, religion, etc.
5. It makes for a stable government because, participation of majority of the citizens in the election of their representatives reduces ill- feeling and revolts.
6. It makes the majority of the citizens to have interest in the affairs of the government of their country.
7. Elected representatives through universal adult suffrage reflect popular choice.
8. Universal adult suffrage widens voter’s base.
DEMERITS OF UNLIMITED FRANCHISE OR UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE
1. It emphasizes quantity rather than quality of votes.
2. Majority of the adult voters allowed to vote are illiterates who vote blindly.
3. The involvement of many people in the voting encourages violent polling.
4. It encourages the election of many unqualified representatives elected through unlimited franchise seem to be mediocre in outlook.
5. It brings about victimization, intimidation of political opponents in the system.
6. It produces electoral malpractices due to the fact that many people are involved in voting.
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