Today, voter turnout is one of the crucial signals of how citizens participate in the governance of their country. Higher voter turnout is in most cases a sign of the vitality of democracy, whilst lower turnout is usually associated with voter apathy and mistrust of the political process (Birch, 2010). Voter turnout measures the percentage of voters that have actually taken part in an election; the proportion of eligible voters who actually cast a vote. Votes can be classified into ballot papers which were correctly filled out and those which were incorrectly filled out and therefore counted as invalid. Because of the importance of voter turnout, media and civil society actors, as well as the democracy support community and many other stakeholders are concerned when citizens do not turn out to vote. Such communities are keen to understand the reasons behind low turnouts. In Ghana, according to all media platforms including Ghana Web, the 2023 District Assembly Elections across the recorded a notably low turnout, with officials expressing concern over the limited number of voters at polling stations. The exercise which was held on Tuesday, December 19th and 21st, 2023 to elect district assembly members and unit committee members for the various constituencies across the country, had few people turning up to vote. The low voter turnout was attributed to a number of factors including lack of civic education, low trust in the local government system, unemployment and also voting on a working day. Poor voter turnout goes out to weaken our democracy and ultimately slow our development as a country. Based on the above concern, it has become very necessary to have a critical study of the impact of unemployment on voter turnout in some selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana.

1. KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF UNEMPLOYMENT ON
VOTER TURNOUT IN SOME SELECTED ELECTORAL AREAS IN
THE KUMASI METROPOLIS IN GHANA
2024

2. CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This section sought to look at the background of the study, statement of the problem,
purpose of the study, research questions, significance, scope of the study, limitations and
organization of the study.
1.1 Background of the Study
The main aim of every society, be it developed or developing, is to increase the capabilities
of its citizens or create a congenial environment for the realization of these capabilities.
One of these capabilities is freedom. According to Sen (2000), freedom including political
freedom is not just an essential factor of development but it is also one the primary
outcomes of development. Contemporarily, elections have been recognized as the most
preferred means through which the citizens of a country can exercise their freedoms.
Elections in democracies play an essential role of ensuring representation of popular will
of the people and also help to secure the legitimacy of the political system (Reynolds,
2012). Election is a reliable barometer of democratic experience of a country and does not
only promote political participation for the citizens but also provide legitimacy for
government.
Today, elections in Africa have become a powerful instrument for accountability,
democracy, and ultimately human development. In the course of last three decades, the
democratic reforms conducted in many African countries have enhanced successful
transition of many countries from one- party, military and autocratic rule to multiparty
democracy. At the heart of the transition to democracy is the holding of periodic multiparty
elections. Since the recurrence of democratic systems in Africa in 1989, Africans have used
elections as the main medium of selecting leaders to represent them at all levels (Gyampo,

3. 2009). At the same time, Africans have also used elections to change from one government
to another. Elections in Africa have become a powerful tool for accountability, democracy
and ultimately human development.
Elections are much more enhanced with voter turnout. Voter turnout is considered as the
participation rate of voters in a given election. This is recorded either as the percentage of
registered voters, eligible voters or all voting- age people. It shows the degree of public
trust in government and citizens’ participation in the political process. Voter turnout is of
vast importance to the credibility that will be attached to an election’s outcome. Voting in
elections by citizens is the basis of democracy and citizenship. A significant turnout is
therefore recognized as higher involvement in decision making and a seal of legitimacy,
whilst a low voter turnout is thought to reflect a lack of excitement about the candidates or
a feeling that voting doesn’t actually matter. Nevertheless, healthy democracies can usually
inspire citizens to take part in the voting process, and many countries work to increase
voter turnout by making it easy to cast a ballot.
In Ghana, elections represent an important part of governance, designed to foster and
reinforce democratic engagement at all levels. However, they have been marked by poor
voter turnout and apathy among citizens, posing a setback to the principles of good
governance. According to empirical evidence, since the 1988 district assembly election,
the voter turnout has reduced from 59.3% in 1988 to 33.6 % in 2019, the last district-level
elections (Amedeku et al., 2023). In between these years, there has been a fluctuating
percentage of voter turnout in each of the elections held. For years, civil society
organisations and governance advocacy groups have lamented the persistent display of
disinterest and poor attitude towards the elections in the country, especially the district-
level elections. A number of factors have been attributed to low interest in Ghanaian
elections including lack of civic education and low trust in the government systems
including low visibility and publicity.

4. A number of factors such as lack of civic education and low trust in the local government
system contribute to the general lack of interest in the District Local Elections. Also, the
low visibility and publicity of the DLE contribute largely to apathy for the elections. The
researcher therefore seeks to have a critical study of the impact of unemployment on voter
turnout in some selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana.
1.2 Problem Statement
Today, voter turnout is one of the crucial signals of how citizens participate in the
governance of their country. Higher voter turnout is in most cases a sign of the vitality of
democracy, whilst lower turnout is usually associated with voter apathy and mistrust of the
political process (Birch, 2010). Voter turnout measures the percentage of voters that have actually
taken part in an election; the proportion of eligible voters who actually cast a vote. Votes can be
classified into ballot papers which were correctly filled out and those which were incorrectly filled
out and therefore counted as invalid. Because of the importance of voter turnout, media and civil
society actors, as well as the democracy support community and many other stakeholders are
concerned when citizens do not turn out to vote. Such communities are keen to understand the
reasons behind low turnouts.
In Ghana, according to all media platforms including Ghana Web, the 2023 District Assembly
Elections across the recorded a notably low turnout, with officials expressing concern over the
limited number of voters at polling stations. The exercise which was held on Tuesday, December
19th
and 21st
, 2023 to elect district assembly members and unit committee members for the various
constituencies across the country, had few people turning up to vote. The low voter turnout was
attributed to a number of factors including lack of civic education, low trust in the local
government system, unemployment and also voting on a working day. Poor voter turnout goes out
to weaken our democracy and ultimately slow our development as a country. Based on the above
concern, it has become very necessary to have a critical study of the impact of unemployment on
voter turnout in some selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana.

5. 1.3 Research Objectives
The main objective is to have a critical study of the impact of unemployment on voter
turnout in some selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana. The study
intends to specifically look at:
i. Examining the perception of unemployed individuals on voting in some selected
electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis.
ii. Examining the effects of unemployment on voter turnout in some selected electoral
areas in the Kumasi Metropolis.
iii. Recommending possible solutions to curb unemployment and its effect on voter
turnout in the selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis.
1.4 Research Questions
In order to have a critical study of the impact of unemployment on voter turnout in some
selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis, the following are some of the questions
which this study intends to answer:
i. How do unemployed individuals perceive voting in the selected electoral areas in
the Kumasi Metropolis?
ii. What are the effects of unemployment on voter turnout in the selected electoral areas
in the Kumasi Metropolis.
iii. What are the possible solutions to curb unemployment on voter turnout in the
selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis.

6. 1.5 Significance Of The Study
The study has enormous benefits and will give empirical evidence to policy and decision
makers such as the Government, Parliament of Ghana, Electoral Commission of Ghana,
Political Parties and various local and international actors in the political world on the
impact of unemployment on voter turnout. It will inevitably help decision makers in the
electoral line to discover best practices to increase the participation of all citizens.
Furthermore, the study could serve as a reference material and provide information for
researchers and students who wish to study unemployment and its effect on voter turnout.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study explores concepts, models and theories covering voter turnout and it confines
itself to some selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study will focus on
the impact of unemployment on voter turnout in some selected electoral areas. The study
intends to target Electoral Commission Officers, Members of Parliament, Assembly
Members, Political Party Officials, unemployed individuals and key stakeholders in the
electoral line in the selected electoral areas in the Kumasi Metropolis.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
As a characteristic of every research, it is acknowledged that this study did have some
limitations. Each empirical objective presents its own limitations that have to be discussed
for future studies to take note and endeavor to address them. It is however important to
make it clear that those limitations in no way rendered the findings of this study invalid or
compromised the quality of the research.

7. In the first place, the researcher was faced with time constraint of getting the targeted
respondents to get the desired information. The researcher had to travel long distances to
have formal interaction with the respondents and this was time consuming.
Also, the researcher was faced with the problem of reading questions to some students who
could not read very well and had to make extra time to attend to such individuals. Some of
them were unwilling to give adequate information needed for this research work. This
made the work tedious.
1.8 Organisation of the Study
The study has been organized into five chapters. The first chapter of this project deals with
the general introduction to the study. It looked at the background to the study, problem
statement, research objective, the research questions, significance of the study, limitations
and the scope of the study. The Chapter two will look at the review of related literature. It
covers the theoretical framework of the study, which deals with the broad spectrum of
unemployment and voter turnout as well as its effects in the selected electoral areas in the
Kumasi Metropolis. The Chapter three will look at the Methodology that was adopted in
the undertaking of the project; which includes research design, population, sample and
sampling technique, instrumentation, validity and reliability of instrument, data collection
as well as data analysis. The Chapter four will present and discuss the result of the study.
The Chapter five will summarize, conclude and give recommendations based on the
findings of the study.

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