Vol. 15, No. 1, June - December 2023

Election remains one of the essential hallmarks of any democratic experiment. It is a yardstick through which conformity to democratic norms of any government can be measured. It is equally a platform for people to choose the kind of leaders they want to govern them. This is however achievable if the election is free and fair and devoid of violence. A violent electoral atmosphere rob citizens the opportunity of choosing the leaders they truly desired. This paper therefore, examined the effects of electoral violence on democratic process and sustainability in Nigeria's fourth republic. The remote causes of incessant cases of electoral violence were examined, and it was revealed that factors such as desire to achieve electoral victory by all means among politicians, hate campaigns, abuse of power by those occupying political offices among others are the causes of electoral violence. Findings also revealed that electoral violence negatively affect democratic process and by extension democratic sustainability. The paper recommended that for electoral violence to be eradicated, Nigerian politicians must be ready to play the game according to the rules, and adopt issuebased campaigns among other recommendations

Keywords: election, violence, democracy, democratic process and democratic sustainability