By JACK MWEWA –

THE seas of crowds that gathered at many political rallies during the run-up to the January 20, presidential elections were not even a semblance of people who turned out to vote.
Such a situation is referred to as voter apathy; something perceived as lack of caring among voters in an election.
Voter apathy or lack of interest is often cited as a cause for low turnout among eligible voters in jurisdictions where voting is optional.
A number of reasons were cited for such a low turnout with Acting President Guy Scott getting concerned that unfriendly weather in some parts of Zambia prevented people from voting.
Speaking after casting his vote at Lusaka Golf Club, Dr Scott was quoted saying it was unfortunate that the weather was not friendly.
In ensuring that Zambians turned out in numbers to cast their vote, Dr Scott had declared the polls’ day a public holiday.
In fact, Dr Scott personally went to Mr Price Stores at Manda Hill in Lusaka where he directed the store’s manager to immediately close the shop and allow workers to go and vote.
Foreign election observers went further to note that apart from the weather, other factors like some voters might have relocated from initial areas they registered to vote from and others could have died.
From the said account, one would notice Government’s efforts in making sure that registered voters found time to cast their vote.
Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson, Justice Irene Mambilima who appeared on a live Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation television update wondered why voter turnout was low even in areas where it never rained.
With the aforesaid, the question, however, still lingers as to what really caused such apathy despite efforts made to create conducive voting environment.
ECZ had earlier encouraged voters whose cards got lost that they replace them at no cost, a gesture which did not help either.
Some registered voters who were interviewed during the week had different opinions with some saying they had not seen any benefits in voting.
“I have been voting since Independence but has not benefited anything from the whole thing, I can’t see tangible development that has personally reached me,” said Josephat Mbhawe of Ndola.
Going by Mr Mbhawe’s concern, it is, then, a duty of all elections stakeholders to sensitise citizens on the importance of voting, outlining the need for every citizen to vote.
People like Mr Mbhawe ought to be sensitised that only by casting their vote they could voice out such concerns and vote out politicians they feel have not delivered to their expectations.
Elsewhere, voter apathy has characterized even the most developed countries like America which has bemoaned consistent themes underlying voter apathy, large numbers of eligible Americans boycotting in participating in elections.
According to American information, between 1960 and 2008, the percentage of eligible voters who bothered to cast their ballots during the presidential elections have ranged from about 49 to 63 per cent.
This means that as much as half of American voters do not care enough to decide which candidate would make a good president.
In fact, the 1960 election (the very tight battle between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon), represented a 50-year peak in turnout, with 63.1 per cent of the voting-age population casting a vote. The lowest turnout was recorded in 1996 when Bill Clinton defeated Bob Dole, only 49.1 per cent voted.
In 2008, when Barack Obama became the first mixed-race president in history (a campaign that received monumental media coverage), a relatively modest 56.8 per cent of eligible Americans voted.
Voter participation in America remains consistently below corresponding levels in most other western democracies.
In countries like Italy, Belgium, Austria and Australia more than 90 per cent of the voting public cast ballots at election time.
Voter apathy in America has to do with many factors, including the system of representation, the wide socio-economic and demographic variation in the public and the way political parties and candidates engage voters.
Voter apathy has a lot to do whether or not people believe their voice matters.
As for Biseck Phiri, a lecturer at a private college on the Copperbelt, failure to fulfill promises that politicians make is one factor contributing to voter apathy.
“Zambian politicians themselves contribute to voter apathy because they make a lot of promises which they fail to fulfill, shunning the next elections, therefore, tends to be a way of disapproving the whole process,” he said.
Mr Phiri said politicians need to change their campaign strategies to that of simply being objective rather than promises that do not materialise.
He said politicians need to adopt a method of educating, sensitising voters as opposed to campaigns that are meant to woo supporters.
Maria Schultz is Zambian domiciled in Australia who has a different perspective of the cause for voter apathy: “Zambia has lagged far too behind in development, as a result, citizens would like to see spontaneous development at both national and personal level.”
Ms Schultz said politicians need to inform their supporters of outlined specific programmes indicating actual period in which such could be attained.
She said that while sugar-coated promises were easy to pronounce, they lead to disappointments on the part of those promised.
Ms Schultz said it was the voters’ feeling of disappointment which bred resentment and complete shunning of future elections.
If raised concerns were anything to go by, the same politicians who seek citizens’ vote have a duty to encourage voter participation by offering selfless service once voted into power.