Exceeding Expectations? Determinants of Satisfaction with the Voting Process in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

The 2000 U.S. presidential election resulted in states introducing new voting systems and election administration procedures. The election also raised concerns that poor experiences at the polls would produce lower levels of confidence in the electoral process or lower turnout. Drawing on theories u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of politics 2013-04, Vol.75 (2), p.451-463
Main Authors: Herrnson, Paul S., Claassen, Ryan L., Niemi, Richard G., Patterson, Kelly D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Ballots
Election law
Elections
Electoral behaviour
Electoral systems
Electronic voting
Expectations
Hispanics
Opinion Polls
Political participation
Political partisanship
Polls
Presidential elections
Presidents
Psychology
Public administration
Satisfaction
Structural equation models
Trust
U.S.A
Voter expectations
Voter Turnout
Voters
Voting
Voting behaviour
Voting turnout
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Summary:The 2000 U.S. presidential election resulted in states introducing new voting systems and election administration procedures. The election also raised concerns that poor experiences at the polls would produce lower levels of confidence in the electoral process or lower turnout. Drawing on theories used in organizational psychology and marketing and using an internet-administered panel survey, we assess the impact of voters’ expectations on their satisfaction in the 2008 elections. The findings indicate that voters have different expectations about the voting process and that these expectations condition the ways in which voters assess their experience. Therefore, a complete explanation of voter satisfaction with the voting process must account for both the expectations voters bring to the polling place and the experiences voters have there.
ISSN:0022-3816
1468-2508
DOI:10.1017/S0022381613000133