Electoral Processes & Systems In The Caribbean

Important Definitions

• Adult suffrage - this term means that all citizens over the age of 18 are allowed to vote.
• Electorate - refers to all the persons that are eligible to vote who are known as electors.
• Constituency - this refers to an area that can be contested in an election. A country is usually split up into multiple constituencies represented in the parliament.
• Hung Parliament - this term is used when there is a tie between two parties and there is no clear majority in the parliament to take control, it is then referred to as “hung”.
• Coalition Government - This type of government is formed after two or more parties come together to contest elections together.
• Ballot - this is the paper that a person uses to vote, it lists out the candidates for their area and they usually put an X next to their preferred candidate. After they fold the paper and put it into a locked box known as the ballot box.
• Manifesto - this is a document that political parties published to the public showing all the plans that they have for the country if they were to be elected.
• A candidate - this is someone that intends to contest an area or constituency in an election, they may be part of a political party or independent.

Electoral Systems

1. First-Past-The-Post - In this system the country's divided into multiple constituencies each represented by a seat in Parliament. Candidates contest the individual seats and may be politically affiliated or independent.The candidate that receives the most votes in a constituency wins that constituency and then the party that wins the most constituencies within the parliament forms the government while the other parties form the opposition. Gerrymandering can sometimes occur in this electoral  system. All Caribbean countries use first past the post except Guyana.
2. Proportional representation -  instead of persons voting for a candidate to represent their constituency they vote for a party to rule over the country and the number of votes that each party receives is reflected in the number of seats they are allocated in the parliament. Each political party usually has a list of candidates for their national area as well as geographical constituencies and the number of candidates that will occupy the seats in Parliament depends on how many votes the party wins. For example if the parliament has 50 seats and a party wins 10% of all the votes they will get five seats in the parliament which will be split amongst their list of national and geographical candidates. The only Caribbean country which uses proportional representation is Guyana.

How Political Parties Prepare For Elections

Before the elections political parties usually hold internal nominations where they select candidates to represent each constituency. After candidates are finalized, they begin to campaign and attempt to convince persons to vote for them. They usually conduct extensive research and opinion polls to gauge how they should campaign. Canvassing is sometimes done where candidates walk from door to door within the area addressing people’s concerns. They also campaign by publishing their manifesto, using various forms of media like TV and posters for advertisements.

Factors Which Influence The Outcome Of Elections

• Voter Turnout - Usually when more persons come out to vote changes can be made in typical voting patterns in the sense that a new party is likely to get elected. On the other hand there is sometimes a low voter turnout when people think the existing party is going to be re-elected.
• Media Coverage - The media plays a key role in painting an image of parties to the public. Media is supposed to be unbiased when reporting the acts of all parties as what the media portrays can often influence how people vote.
• Opinion Polls - Some persons may feel inclined to vote if an opinion poll shows a party they don't want to win is leading and opinion polls also help parties to identify what areas they need to focus on when campaigning
• Campaign Advertising - Advertising is done in many forms and the more money spent on advertising will result in a larger amount of people learning about a party's intentions.
• Campaign Strategy - The party should set out specific objectives that they wish to achieve and have a coordinated approach amongst all its members when speaking to the public.
• Voter Attitude - Some persons may be against voting or assume their votes do not matter; they are also not likely to vote for a party that is not likely to win.

Factors That Influence Voter Participation In Elections

• Age - Older persons tend to vote for parties they have voted for the entire lives whereas younger persons are more likely to vote based on current issues and shift to another party.
• Income - Persons with lower income levels are more likely to vote as it easy to “buy” their votes through grants and financial assistance.
• Education - Persons who are more educated are more likely to vote as they are aware of the importance and consequences.
• Voter Apathy - This is where persons simply do not show concern in elections and tend to opt out of voting.