The Voters Turnout of Village Residents in Cebu City, Philippines

Abstract

This study investigated the factors affecting voter turnout of village residents in Cebu City, Philippines. It utilized a descriptive survey research design to randomly choose 279 respondents who were registered voters during the village election. The survey questionnaire elicited the demographic profile, respondents’ electoral participation in the last village election, and their reasons for not voting. Findings revealed that the large group of the study respondents were young adults, married, and have higher electoral participation than the other age groups. In addition, on average, their income fell below the poverty threshold. Prevailing factors influencing the respondents' vote-casting decision included political, socioeconomic, institutional, media, and cultural factors. The political aspect manifested a highly dominant influence on voters' turnout due to perceived unresolved political problems and intertwined mechanisms within the electoral processes. On the one hand, significant reasons for not casting votes included personal, political, candidates’ qualification/competency, electoral system/process, and health. The study concludes that voters’ turnout in the study area depended on the overall decisions of the electorates, either to cast a vote or not to cast a vote, amidst perennial influences of essential factors in electoral participation.