Voter Turnouts in Presidential Elections in Ghana: A Political Economy Analysis Using District-Level Data

Abstract

During the Fourth Republican electioneering era in Ghana, starting in November 1992, presidential elections are conducted every four years. The 2000 and 2012 elections closely coincided with the national population censuses of 2000 and 2010, respectively. We constructed meso-level models, based on the concept of “average district voter”, to analyse factors influencing voter turnout rates. The results of the analysis indicated that voting was a normal good based on the estimated inelastic price and income elasticities of demand for this good. As expected, the cost of voting incurred by an individual negatively influenced turnout. The other significant negative factors influencing turnout rates included increasing male/female sex ratio (gender), increasing age-based dependency ratio (poverty burden), and disability.