MEANING OF FRANCHISE, TYPES AND ALL DETAILED FACT ABOUT IT

         

   Franchise can be defined as the political rights of qualified adults (whether male or female) citizens of a given country, to vote and be voted for,on any political election.
   
    In this system, everybody can vote,once they are qualified to vote and they are referred to as electorate, and those to be voted for are called candidates. However the right to vote and be voted for varies from country to country.

TYPES OF FRANCHISE
   
      Basically, there are two types of franchise. They are:

1. Limited or Restricted Franchise: The right to vote and be voted for here is fully restricted. Only the qualified voters are allowed to vote or stand as candidates for election in the political system.
The criteria for voting in this system depends on the following.
a. Sex: In some countries, only the male citizens are allowed to vote or contest in elections.

b. Race or Colour: Here,the race or colour of a person determines whether they will be allowed to participate in politics,whether as electorals or candidates.

c. Residential qualification: In this case,the number of years a person as lived in a particular area will determine his/her right to vote.

d. Education: In some countries, the level of education a person has determines the person's right to exercise his/her franchise.

e. Religion: In a country whereby the constitution stipulates the type of religion to be practice,any other type of person practicing a religion order than that,will not be allowed to take part in the exercising of his/her franchise.

f. Wealth: In some countries, the amount of wealth amassed by an individual, determines the citizens right to vote or be voted for. Likewise, poverty will deny such citizens the right to vote.

MERITS OF LIMITED FRANCHISE

1. Matured and informed minds: Since the citizens right to vote is based on some deciding factor,the ones that will vote will definitely have to be matured and active.

2. Makes use of qualified candidates: The few that are contesting in this system, are better qualified in the sense that they are all wealthy and influential.

DEMERITS OF LIMITED FRANCHISE

1. Limited political participation: Due to the terms or conditions applied to this system, only the wealthy are allowed to vote hence, it is not a true representation of the people's choice.

2. The opportunity of voting; is not given to all adults, due to the fact that it is specific in the aspect of the the type of people to vote.

 2. UNLIMITED FRANCHISE or UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE: This type of franchise is the most popular and universally acknowledged. In this system,all qualified adults (men and women ) are allowed to vote and be voted for. However, there are still some qualifications to be met by individuals before voting. The qualifications are not as restrictive as in limited franchise.

The criteria to vote in this system are:

a. Age: Age is one of the qualifications necessary for voting. For example, in  Nigeria,only 18 years and above can vote, U.S.A also 18 years, Germany 20 years, India 21 years.

b. Citizenship: Only the legal citizens and those that are citizens through naturalization are qualified to vote and be voted for in most democratic systems.

c. Registration: Citizens can only vote in a system, if they are properly registered, and issued with voters cards.

d. Sanity: A voter must be mentally sane, I.e sensible in an accepted manner before he/she can vote.

MERITS OF UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE

1. Equality of votes : There is equality of voting. Every qualified adult has one vote, I.e one man,one vote.

2. No discrimination: This method does not allow for discrimination based on race,religion,sex,wealth,e.t.c.

3. Popularly elected representative: Since the majority have exercised their franchise, the elected representatives is the reflexion of popular choice.

4. IT MAKES FOR FULL PARTICIPATION: This system creates an avenue whereby, qualified citizens exercise their voting rights in the political system.

DEMERITS OF UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE

1. Illiteracy: Since some qualified citizens might be illiterates,they can vote blindly.

2. Electoral malpractices: The involvement of many people in voting is capable of resulting into electoral malpractices, cheating, e.t.c

3. No true representation: The elected representatives may not be true representatives representatives of the people because the electorates may be gullible and indecisive so they may end up been influenced wrongly.

TYPES OF SUFFRAGE.

1. Adult suffrage: This involves the voting of adults (men and women),having the necessary qualifications. In this case,only qualified adults can vote.

2. Male suffrage: It is a system whereby only adult male can vote. Here,only qualified adult male are allowed to vote.

3. Tax- payers: Those who have been paying their taxes constantly can only vote. It means only the constant taxpayers are permitted to participate in politics.

4. Property suffrage: Those people with enormous assets and wealth are allowed to vote,I.e those that have acquired/amassed a lot of wealth are allowed to vote.


4. Property suffrage: Those people with enormous assets and wealth are allowed to vote,I.e those that have acquired/amassed a lot of wealth are allowed to vote.


CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR ELIGIBILITY AS CANDIDATES FOR ELECTIONS 

1. Citizenship: Anyone up for election, must first of all be an eligible citizen of the country.
2. Sanity: Since generally, anybody mentally deranged is not associated with,the candidate must be sane. This is a prerequisite for candidacy in any election.

3. No criminal record: A candidate must not be found wanting in the area of crime. He must not be found to have been involved in any criminal case or to have been imprisoned for any criminal offence.

4. Educational qualification: This is another condition for standing as a candidate for any election. In some countries, to enter into the Parliament, the individual must have a minimum of West African School Certificate.

5. Age: This quite a basic condition, in some countries, 25 years of age may be the minimum age of seeking election into House of Representatives and 35 years of age for the presidency .







                                       Posted by
                                                    ADENIYI FAITH