Early Voting and Turnout

Early or convenience voting—understood in this context to be relaxed administrative rules and procedures by which citizens can cast a ballot at a time and place other than the precinct on Election Day—is a popular candidate for election reformers. Typically, reformers argue that maximization of turn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PS, political science & politics political science & politics, 2007-10, Vol.40 (4), p.639-645
Main Authors: Gronke, Paul, Galanes-Rosenbaum, Eva, Miller, Peter A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absentee ballots
Absentee voting
Ballots
College Students
Community centers
Elections
Electoral systems
Local elections
Mail services
Political Participation
Political science
Politics
Reforms
State elections
SYMPOSIUM
Symposium: 2008 and Beyond: The Future of Election Reform in the States
Voter turnout
Voting
Voting Behavior
Voting precincts
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Summary:Early or convenience voting—understood in this context to be relaxed administrative rules and procedures by which citizens can cast a ballot at a time and place other than the precinct on Election Day—is a popular candidate for election reformers. Typically, reformers argue that maximization of turnout is a primary goal, and reducing barriers between voters and the polls is an important method for achieving higher turnout. Arguments in favor of voting by mail, early in-person voting, and relaxed absentee requirements share this characteristic. While there are good theoretical reasons, drawn primarily from the rational choice tradition, to believe that early voting reforms should increase turnout, the empirical literature has found decidedly mixed results. While one prominent study suggests that voting by mail is associated with a 10% increase in turnout, other studies find smaller—but still statistically significant—increases in turnout associated with other convenience voting methods.This work is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the AEI/Brookings Election Reform Project, and the Charles McKinley Fund of Reed College. Thanks to Caroline Tolbert and Daniel Smith for sharing data with us, and to David Magleby for comments on an earlier version of this paper. All responsibility for interpretations lay with the authors.
ISSN:1049-0965
1537-5935
DOI:10.1017/S1049096507071028