This was another popular question, fairly attempted by candidates but most of them scored low marks. Majority of those that attempted the question could not score good marks in the (a) part because they defined Universal Adult suffrage instead of limited franchise, which is the eligibility for voting, and being voted for, based on certain criteria such as property, race, sex, etc.
Moreover, candidates were not well familiar with the (b) part of the question. They could not give salient reasons for making voting compulsory in a state. These shortcomings robbed them of many marks . Overall candidates’ performance in the question was poor.
In order to score high marks in the question, candidates were expected to state some of the following reasons; to:
- overcome apathy and indifference in elections;
- make more citizens take decisions on crucial issues of election;
- make elected representatives reflect the popular choice;
- enable more voters show interest in government affairs;
- make campaigning less expensive, etc.