scholarly journals Early Voting Laws, Voter Turnout, and Partisan Vote Composition: Evidence from Ohio

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Kaplan ◽  
Haishan Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Registration Data ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Child Bearing ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Positive Impacts ◽  
Voting Laws

We estimate effects of early voting on voter turnout using a 2010 homogenization law from Ohio that forced some counties to expand and others to contract early voting. Using voter registration data, we compare individuals who live within the same 2 × 2 mile square block but in different counties. We find substantial positive impacts of early voting on turnout equal to 0.22 percentage points of additional turnout per additional early voting day. We also find greater impacts on women, Democrats, independents, and those of child-bearing and working age. We simulate impacts of national early day laws on recent election outcomes. (JEL D72, K16)

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-143
Author(s):  
Michael Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Election Reform ◽  
Low Educated ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Voting Laws

Chapter 8 reviews the main findings of the book and identifies areas for future research. The general findings indicate that each of the state convenience voting laws (in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee/mail voting, and same day registration) as well solid state election administration can improve voter turnout and promote greater voting equality between the socio-economic classes and among non-Hispanic whites and racial/ethnic minorities. The study demonstrates the value of an advanced causal inference design applied to a rich dataset on American adults (national voter files). It highlights the importance of measuring the effects of multiple convenience voting laws and election administration simultaneously. Future applications of the accessible voting framework can be used to understand the impacts of new election reform laws such as automatic voter registration, and to evaluate whether these factors also promote higher turnout among other historically marginalized voting groups such as the young and low-educated.

Accessible Elections and Voter Turnout

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Michael Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Panel Models ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Voting Laws

Chapter 4 evaluates the impact of convenience voting laws (in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee/mail voting, and same day registration) and election administration on individual-level voter turnout change from the 2010 to 2014 midterm elections and the 2008 to 2012 presidential elections using lagged panel models. Results show that non-voters are more likely to become voters when living in states with absentee/mail voting, in-person early voting, same day registration, and high-quality election administration, controlling for other factors. Same day registration is the most important of the three in both midterm and presidential elections, while early voting and absentee/mail voting have the largest effects in midterm elections.

Why Studying State Voting Laws Is Not Enough

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-50
Author(s):  
Michael Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Omitted Variables ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
State Adoption ◽  
Voting Decisions ◽  
Voting Laws

Early studies of the effects of voter laws on turnout often showed that early voting, absentee, and mail voting had limited impacts on voter turnout, with only same day registration consistently linked to higher turnout. Much of the previous research measured these laws in isolation (although most states have combinations of the laws), omitted measurement of election administration, did not account for possible selection bias in state adoption of the laws, focused on overall voter turnout rather than that for disadvantaged groups, and did not measure the effects of the laws on campaign mobilization strategies. Census data used in previous studies omitted variables (e.g., political interest and partisanship) known to influence voting decisions. Building on research from 2000s and 2010s, Chapter 3 emphasizes how causal inference research design and national voter files can lead to more precise estimations of the effects of convenience voting laws and election administration on voter turnout.

scholarly journals The Introduction of Voter Registration and Its Effect on Turnout

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Ansolabehere ◽  
David M. Konisky
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Voter Participation ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Registration Laws ◽  
Panel Estimates

Studies of voter turnout across states find that those with more facilitative registration laws have higher turnout rates. Eliminating registration barriers altogether is estimated to raise voter participation rates by up to 10%. This article presents panel estimates of the effects of introducing registration that exploits changes in registration laws and turnout within states. New York and Ohio imposed registration requirements on all of their counties in 1965 and 1977, respectively. We find that the introduction of registration to counties that did not previously require registration decreased participation over the long term by three to five percentage points. Though significant, this is lower than estimates of the effects of registration from cross-sectional studies and suggests that expectations about the effects of registration reforms on turnout may be overstated.

The Effect of Registration Laws on Voter Turnout

1978 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Rosenstone ◽  
Raymond E. Wolfinger
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Population Survey ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Registration Laws ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
State Registration ◽  
The Impact

After the drastic relaxation of voter registration requirements in the 1960s, do present state laws keep people away from the polls? More specifically, which provisions have how much effect on what kinds of people? We have answered these questions with data from the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau in November 1972.State registration laws reduced turnout in the 1972 presidential election by about nine percentage points. The impact of the laws was heaviest in the South and on less educated people of both races. Early deadlines for registration and limited registration office hours were the biggest impediments to turnout.Contrary to expectations, changing these requirements would not substantially alter the character of the electorate. The voting population would be faintly less affluent and educated; the biggest difference would be a matter of one or two percentage points. In strictly political terms, the change would be even fainter–a gain for the Democrats of less than half a percent.

Election Administration and the Pure Effect of Voter Registration on Turnout

2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry C. Burden ◽  
Jacob R. Neiheisel
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Closing Date ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Administrative Capacity ◽  
Local Election ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Negative Effect

Voter registration is thought to have a substantial negative effect on American voter turnout. The authors clarify this understanding in two ways. First, using a natural experiment in Wisconsin, they estimate the pure effect of registration, stripped of aspects such as the closing date. Registration lowers turnout by about 2 percentage points. Second, the authors argue that administrative capacities of local election officials are important moderators of how much registration affects turnout. Municipalities with less capacity are associated with bigger decreases in turnout. Researchers and policy makers should consider administrative capacity as a component in the equal application of voting laws.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2020 Elections in Ghana

2020 ◽  
pp. 94-102
Author(s):  
Frank Bitafir Ijon ◽  
B. B. B. Bingab
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Desk Review

The paper explores the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on Ghana’s election 2020 which will be conducted on the 7th December 2020. The paper argues that despite the fact that the pandemic has negatively affected the 2020 elections process, it also presents political parties and the Electoral Commission the opportunity to be innovative in their activities. The study adopts a content analysis approach and depends mainly on the desk review of related literature on the topic under investigation. The study found that the possible negative impacts of the virus on the 2020 elections include: low voter turnout because of the fear of contracting the virus due to human contacts at the voting centers and postponement of the 2020 elections if the spread goes out of hand. The impacts felt already include postponement of voter registration exercise from April 2020 to June 2020 and the ban on political activities such as mass campaigns. Again, one positive impact of the virus is that it has made political parties innovative in the mobilization of voters through the use of various social media platforms. Now campaigns and other political activities are held via the internet. With such innovation, the paper proposes that the E.C. should consider online voting, postal voting, and early voting in the 2020 election as a way of reducing human conduct and overcrowding on the day of voting in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Measuring Accessible Elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Michael Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Performance Index ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Moderate Correlation ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Registration Laws ◽  
Voting Decisions ◽  
Independent Effects ◽  
Voting Laws

Chapter 2 develops the accessible elections theoretical framework used throughout the study. To evaluate the framework, the chapter discusses data to measure state voting and registration laws, election administration performance, and individual voting decisions in recent midterm and presidential elections. Special attention is paid to the Election Performance Index (EPI) to measure how well states conduct elections; previous research has not generally measured election administration to predict voter turnout. The states have different combinations of in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee/mail voting, same day registration laws, and election administration performance. The moderate correlation between the voting laws and election administration suggests that both must be taken into account to identify their independent effects on whether people vote. Research hypotheses posit that states with more convenience voting laws and higher performing election administrations will have higher voter turnout, campaign mobilization, and lower turnout inequality.

scholarly journals I Will Register and Vote, If You Teach Me How: A Field Experiment Testing Voter Registration in College Classrooms

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (04) ◽  
pp. 867-871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Bennion ◽  
David W. Nickerson
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
College Classrooms ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Student Volunteer ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACTCollege students are young, have little or no history of voting, and are residentially mobile, which makes them a population in great need of registering to vote. Universities have a civic, pedagogical, and legal obligation to register their students to vote. In 2006, we conducted a controlled experiment across 16 college campuses to test the efficacy of classroom presentations to increase voter registration. The 25,256 students across more than 1,026 classrooms were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) a control group receiving no presentation; (2) a presentation by a professor; and (3) a presentation by a student volunteer. Verifying registration and voter turnout from a national voter database, we found that both types of presentations increased overall registration by 6 percentage points and turnout rates by approximately 2.6 percentage points. These results demonstrated that universities can take simple steps to engage their students in politics.

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