Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

s in

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa I ...

are supervised and conducted by two major electoral bodies,

Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), is a statutory body constituted by the Government of Rivers State, Nigeria, under section 5(a) of the Independent Electoral Commission Law (2000) to oversee the implementation of election pr ...

(RSIEC) and the

Independent National Electoral Commission The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria. History Regulation and administration of elections The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...

(INEC). There are 23 local government areas, 319 electoral wards and 4442 polling units in the state. Elections for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gover ...

are held every four years, along with federal elections for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

and the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. Rivers State organizes elections into its local governments through the State Independent Electoral Commission. Each local government area is governed by a local government council under an elected Chairman or Mayor.

Voting eligibility

All citizens 18 years old or above who are residents of Rivers State and live in the ward or local government area where they intend to vote, and have not been rendered unqualified by law may vote. In order to actually vote, citizens are required to register before election day. In January 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission recorded a total of 2,537,590 registered voters in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Electoral system

Governor

The Governor and Deputy Governor are elected through

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

on the same

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

for a term of four years. They may be re-elected for a second term but may not serve for more than two consecutive terms.

Legislature

The

consists of 32 members, each elected to four-year terms in single-member

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...

plurality Plurality may refer to: Voting * Plurality (voting), or relative majority, when a given candidate receives more votes than any other but still fewer than half of the total ** Plurality voting, system in which each voter votes for one candidate and ...

. The qualified members in turn elect a

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

, whose primary responsibility is to preside over the House. In carrying out his or her official duties, the Assembly Speaker is assisted by an elected Deputy Speaker, who basically serves as the vice-presiding officer of the House.

Constituencies

*Abua–Odual * Ahoada East I *Ahoada East II *Ahoada West *Akuku-Toru I *Akuku-Toru II *Andoni *Asari-Toru I *Asari-Toru II *Bonny *Degema *Eleme *Emohua *Etche I *Etche II * Gokana *Ikwerre *Khana I *Khana II *Obio-Akpor I *Obio-Akpor II *Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni I *Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni II *Ogu–Bolo *Okrika *Omuma *Opobo–Nkoro *Oyigbo *Port Harcourt I *Port Harcourt II *Port Harcourt III *Tai

Federal elections

Elections occur quadrennially in which riverian voters will directly elect 16 representatives to the

Nigerian National Assembly The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate with 109 members and a 360-member House of Representatives. The body, modeled ...

. Those chosen are grouped into 3 senators representing Rivers South East,

Rivers West Rivers West senatorial district is one of the three senatorial districts in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is currently represented by Betty Okagua Apiafi. District profile The district covers the local government areas of Abua–Odual, Ahoada East, ...

Rivers East Rivers East senatorial district is one of the three senatorial districts in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is currently represented by George Thompson Sekibo (from the People's Democratic Party). District profile The Rivers East senatorial district has ...

and 13 representatives representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro, Obio/Akpor, Oyigbo/Tai/Eleme, Port Harcourt II, Etche/Omuma, Asari-Toru/Akuku-Toru, Okrika/Ogu/Bolo, Khana/Gokana, Port Harcourt I, Ahoada West/Egbema/Ndoni, Abua/Odual/Ahoada East, Ikwerre/Emohua, Degema/Bonny.

has voted PDP in the vast majority of elections since 1999. However, the state has been viewed as important in determining the presidential outcome. In 2011,

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to f ...

won comfortably with 1.8 million votes, the highest total gained subnationally that year. His victory was expected considering ruling party's influence on political life at the time. In 2015, Jonathan was again preferred, though, achieved less than his previous record.

References

{{Authority control Government of Rivers State