EXPLORING FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE VOTERS BEHAVIOR IN THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTION IN WASE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, PLATEAU STATE.

The study examines the determinants of voter’s behavior on electoral process in Plateau state Nigeria. Decreasing voter participation trends are a cause of concern because voter turnout is one of the main indicators to measure the levels of democratic development and robustness of a country. Low voter turnout can be related to and originated by many different factors closely related to the democratic, economic and social development of a country. Three objectives were achieved. Social action theory was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. the research adopted the descriptive research survey method using the convenience sampling technique in selecting 50 respondents as the population for the study. the study reveals that ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, political party affiliation, and incumbency are all factors that influence voter behavior in Plateau state, Nigeria. The study concludes that various factors influence voting behavior such as educating voters on the importance of voting and how to vote is the most popular way to improve voters’ political behavior in the electoral process. Transparency and security are also important factors while the use of technology is less popular. The study therefore, recommends that the independent national electoral commission (INEC) should engage more actively in civic or democracy education about civic responsibilities and the importance of participation in elections. There should be a need to speed up the processing of identity document to increase participation.