An election boycott is the boycotting of an election by a group of voters, each of whom abstains from voting.

Boycotting may be used as a form of political protest where voters feel that electoral fraud is likely, or that the electoral system is biased against its candidates, or that the polity organizing the election lacks legitimacy. In jurisdictions with compulsory voting, a boycott may amount to an act of civil disobedience; alternatively, supporters of the boycott may be able to cast blank votes or vote for "none of the above". Boycotting voters may belong to a particular regional or ethnic group. A particular political party or candidate may refuse to run in the election and urges its supporters to boycott the vote.

In the case of a referendum, a boycott may be used as a voting tactic by opponents of the proposition. If the referendum requires a minimum turnout to be valid, the boycott may prevent this quorum being reached.

Major instances of electoral boycotts

• Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 1973
• Sierra Leonean general election, 1973
• Burkina Faso presidential election, 1991
• Ghanaian parliamentary election, 1992
• Togolese presidential election, 1993
• Côte d'Ivoire presidential election, 1995
• Cameroonian presidential election, 1997
• Malian presidential election, 1997
• Mauritanian presidential election, 1997
• Burkina Faso presidential election, 1998
• Algerian presidential election, 1999 (six of the seven candidates withdrew just before the election, citing fraud)
• Côte d'Ivoire presidential election, 2000
• Beninese presidential election, 2001
• Gambian parliamentary election, 2002
• Guinean presidential election, 2003
• Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2005 (swept by parties allied with President Hugo Chávez)
• Chadian presidential election, 2006 (boycotted by main opposition parties, though four relatively weak candidates remained on the ballot to challenge President Idriss Déby Itno)
• Djiboutian parliamentary election, 2008 (swept by the pro-presidential coalition)

Boycott campaigns

In South Africa, the three largest independent social movements boycott the vote under the banner of the No Land! No House! No Vote! Campaign.

Other social movements in other parts of the world also have similar campaigns or non-voting preferences. These include the Naxalites in India, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico and various Anarchist oriented movements. In Mexico's mid term 2009 elections there was strong support for 'Nulo' - a campaign to vote for no one.[1][2][3] In India poor people's movements in Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh have rejected parliamentary politics (as well as the NGO and Maoist alternatives).[4]

See also

• abstention -- an individual not voting
• abstentionism -- running in an election to a deliberative assembly but refusing to take any seats won

References

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