He argued that the confusion faced by Nigerian voters during elections due to long ballot papers has been responsible for the growing number of void votes recorded at the polls.
Recommending panacea, Oke suggested that the logos of inactive and obscure political parties should be removed from ballot papers to make it short and easy for voters to peruse before casting their votes.
Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State, stressed that the increasing number of non-performing political parties on the ballot is making it harder for citizens, especially those with low literacy levels, to cast their votes correctly.
Speaking in a position paper released on Monday, titled “Strengthening INEC’s Regulatory Role Over Political Parties to Safeguard Democratic Integrity,” the lawmaker noted that feedback from the field showed that some voters had mistakenly voted across party lines or invalidated their votes due to the complex ballot design.
“Our ballot paper has become one of the longest and most confusing in the world. Voters—both literate and non-literate—have complained about being overwhelmed by the number of logos. Some end up voting wrongly or spoiling their ballots altogether,” Oke said.
He accused several political parties of existing only on paper, lacking candidates, national spread, or genuine interest in democratic processes. According to him, these parties show up only during election periods to exploit the system, particularly by filing election petitions aimed at extorting candidates who won at the polls.
“The proliferation of these unserious parties not only wastes INEC’s time and resources but also robs voters of their ability to make informed and accurate choices,” he added.
Oke asked INEC to conduct an urgent compliance audit of all registered political parties and enforce constitutional provisions that allow for the deregistration of non-compliant ones.
He said, “Section 225A of the Constitution empowers INEC to deregister parties that fail to meet basic requirements such as winning elections or even participating in them. INEC must act now to clean up the system.”
The lawmaker also recommended a review of the Electoral Act to ensure that only political parties that actually participate in elections can file post-election legal challenges, arguing that it would reduce judicial congestion and voter apathy.
“Ballot clarity is a cornerstone of credible elections. We must not allow our democracy to be distorted by political logos with no real meaning or mandate behind them,” he warned.
