Electoral Management Bodies and Citizens' Evaluations of Election Quality: A Case of Nigeria's 2023 Elections

There has been a wide range of research on how citizens form their perceptions of the quality of an election. In this paper, I assess how the performance of the institution that is bestowed with the responsibility of election management shapes public perceptions in the post-election period. Using Nigeria’s 2023 elections as a case study, I suggest that the performance of the electoral management body correlates with public views on the quality of the election. The findings show that there is robust support for this theory. While this is a sweeping claim that can be sustained, citizens' experiences with partisan affiliation and electoral integrity do matter as well.