2010’s low voter rate may recur in October

A voter casts a ballot in the 2010 General Election. Voter apathy reached record levels in that year’s polls. PHOTO | FILE  

Dar es Salaam. The 2010 General Election is remembered by among other issues a low voter turnout and the situation is feared to reccur in this year’s General Election which is only three months away.

The number of people who voted in the presidential contest five years ago did not even reach 50 per cent of all registered voters. 20,137,303 million voters were registered across the country, but only 8,626,283 which is equivalent to 42 per cent turnout.

The 2010 turnout is Tanzania’s all time low, and since the return of multiparty democracy in 1992 the turnout was ranging between 70 to 80 per cent before the unprecedented fall in 2010. In 1995 the turnout was at 76 per cent, 84 per cent in 2000 and 73 per cent in 2005.

Interestingly, the same trend was also experienced during the single party era where the lowest turnout was 72 per cent in 1970 and the highest being 85 per cent in 1985.

The ghost of low turnout experienced in 2010 followed in three parliamentary by elections. The first by election was in 2011 in Igunga constituency, a total of 171,019 voters were registered but only 56,072 which is equal to 33 per cent voted.

Last year two by elections were held, March in Kalenga and April in Chalinze constituencies. In Kalenga, registered voters were 71,964 but only 29,541 which is equal to 41 per cent voted. The situation was worse in Chalinze where out of the electorate of 92,939 only 24,422 which is equal to 26 per cent voted.

The trend is alarming and activists among others the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) in their 2014 Tanzania Human Rights Report are calling for the issue to be addressed or the problem will also cloud the October 25, General Election.

A 2012 survey done in 13 districts in 13 regions in the country by a civil society organization Tanzania Citizens’ Information Bureau (TCIB) revealed that threats and fear were some of the reasons for the low voter turnout in the 2010 general election.

TCIB Executive Director Mr Deus Kibamba explained many people had stated that violent incidents that took place prior to elections made them afraid to turnout on the voting day.

Five years down the line in 2015 according to LHRC Executive Director Dr Hellen Kijo-Bisimba fear and threats might still scare many voters from choosing their leaders.

Dr Bisimba noted that in all three by elections cases of gross human rights violations were recorded during campaign trials, and they played a major part in scaring people from voting.

“The tone of this year’s campaign will automatically signal how voters are going to come out in October 25 … violence in campaigns are politically motivated, so it remains in the hands of political parties to exercise patience and sanity, but as of now we are seeing all these parties are shaping their paramilitary wings ready for elections, and that is a bad sign,” she said.

Also she said the way police have been handling political tensions have been a matter of concern for many voters, and if “police brutality” is not to be experienced then turnout will not be a matter not to worry about.

For his part a public policy researcher and the Executive Director of The Concern for Development Initiatives in Africa (ForDIA) Mr Bubelwa Kaiza said there is also an awareness factor.

“Although the matter needs to be further researched on but many Tanzanians are yet to connect elections, politics and their daily lives. They believe in destiny and God’s will alone, they don’t believe that there are things that can be achieved by their hands, like election results.”