| Abstrakt: |
The study investigated the influence of voter education via the media on the awareness and participation of the residents of South-East Nigeria in Nigeria's 2023 general elections. The quantitative approach and the descriptive survey design were used for the study. The residents of South-Eastern Nigeria constituted the population of the study from where a sample size of 384 was drawn using the creative research system online sample size calculator. The multistage sampling technique was used to select those who participated in the study, while the questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. The generated data were cleaned and manually edited for any irregularities. The data were entered in screens designed using Microsoft Excel. The data captured in Microsoft Excel were exported to SPSS version 20 for more detailed analysis. Logical checks and frequency runs were made on all variables to improve the accuracy and consistency of the data and identify any outliers before actual data analysis. Descriptive statistics of frequency count was used for data analysis and presented in tables which were used to address the research questions. Findings revealed that the extent to which the respondents were influenced by voter education messages through the media to participate in voter registration for the 2023 general election was high in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria; the extent of influence of voter education messages via the media on the respondents awareness of the political parties that fielded candidates in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria was high; voter education messages via the media highly enhanced respondents' awareness of how to cast their ballots in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria; the extent of influence of voter education via the media on respondents' identification of their polling units was low during the general elections in Nigeria; and finally, the respondents were highly influenced to go and cast their votes during the 2023 general elections in Nigeria. In line with the findings, it was recommended, among others, that efforts should be made by those packaging voter education messages (the Independent Electoral Commission of Nigeria, the media, etc.) in Nigeria to stress how best the electorate could locate / identify their polling units to enable them to cast their votes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
