This research examines the effectiveness of ballot access reforms which may increase voter turnout. While many reforms are designed to reduce individual costs of voting—to register, obtain, and cast a ballot—their impacts should be observable in the aggregate. U.S. states determine and administer rules concerning the conduct of elections, so the success of those rules should be measured for statewide elections. Existing research focuses on presidential elections. Yet if reforms influence levels of voter participation, stronger evidence of attracting peripheral voters should be found in midterm elections. This research examines state variation in electoral law on registration and voting in statewide, general elections from 2000 to 2018. Voting reforms evaluated include same-day registration, no-excuses absentee voting, early voting, and all-mail voting. Simple and multivariate analysis, including state-level demographic controls, suggest only limited effects of electoral innovations on voting-eligible turnout, in both midterm and presidential elections. Reforms designed to increase turnout produce at best modest positive effects.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichJohn H.1993. “Rational Choice and Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science, 37(1): 246-278.
2.
AnziaSarah F.2014. Time and Turnout. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3.
BarberMichael, and Holbein.John B.2020. “The Participatory and Partisan Impacts of Mandatory Vote-by-mail.” Science Advances, 6(35).
4.
BerinskyAdam J.2005. “The Perverse Consequences of Electoral Reform in the United States.” American Politics Research, 33(4): 471-491.
5.
BerinskyAdam J., BurnsNancy, and TraugottMichael. 2001. “Who Votes by Mail?” Public Opinion Quarterly, 65(2): 178-197.
6.
BiggersDaniel R., and HanmerMichael J.. 2015. “Who Makes Voting Convenient? Explaining the Adoption of Early and No-Excuse Absentee Voting in the American States.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 15(2): 192-210.
7.
BornRichard.1990. “Surge and Decline, Negative Voting, and the Midterm Loss Phenomenon.” American Journal of Political Science, 34(3): 615-645.
8.
BrennanGeoffrey, and LomaskyLoren. 1993. Democracy and Decision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
9.
BurdenBarry C., CanonDavid T., MayerKenneth R., and MoynihanDonald P.. 2014. “Election Laws, Mobilization, and Turnout: The Unanticipated Consequences of Election Reform.” American Journal of Political Science, 58(1): 95-109.
10.
CampbellAngus.1960. “Surge and Decline: A Study of Electoral Change.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 24(3): 397-418.
11.
CampbellJames E.1987. “The Revised Theory of Surge and Decline.” American Journal of Political Science, 31(4): 965-979.
12.
CancelaJoão, and GeysBenny. 2016. “Explaining Voter Turnout: A Meta-analysis of National and Subnational Elections.” Electoral Studies, 42: 264-275.
13.
CollierKen E., and EndersbyJames W.. 2017. “The Incumbency Advantage in Senatorial and Gubernatorial Elections.” Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
14.
DownsAnthony.1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.
15.
DyckJoshua J., and GimpelJames G.. 2005. “Distance, Turnout, and the Convenience of Voting.” Social Science Quarterly, 86(3): 531-548.
16.
EndersbyJames W., ShawJohn R. Petrocik and Daron R.. 2006. “Electoral Mobilization in the United States.” In Handbook of Party Politics, eds., RichardS. Katz and WilliamJ. Crotty, 316-336. London: Sage.
17.
EndersbyJames W., GalatasSteven E., and RackawayChapman B.. 2002. “Closeness Counts in Canada: Voter Participation in the 1993 and 1997 Federal Elections,” Journal of Politics, 64(2): 610-631.
18.
FensterMark J.1994. “The Impact of Allowing Day of Registration Voting on Turnout in U.S. Elections from 1960 to 1992.” American Politics Quarterly, 22(1): 74-87.
19.
FiorinaMorris P.1990. “Information and Rationality in Elections.” In Information and Democratic Processes, ed. John A. Ferejohn and James H. Kuklinski. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
20.
FitzgeraldMary.2005. “Greater Convenience But Not Greater Turnout—The Impact of Alternative Voting Methods on Electoral Participation in the United States.” American Politics Research, 33(6): 842-867.
21.
FranciaPeter L., and HerrnsonPaul S.. 2004. “The Synergistic Effect of Campaign Effort and Election Reform on Voter Turnout in State Legislative Elections.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 4(1): 74-93.
22.
FranklinDaniel P., and GrierEric E.. 1997. “Effects of Motor Voter Legislation.” American Politics Quarterly, 25(1): 104-117.
23.
GerberAlan S., and GreenDonald P.. 2000. “The Effects of Canvassing, Telephone Calls, and Direct Mail on Voter Turnout.” American Political Science Review, 94(3): 653-663.
24.
GeysBenny.2006. “Explaining Voter Turnout: A Review of Aggregate-level Research.” Electoral Studies, 25(4): 637-663.
25.
GiammoJoseph D. and Brian J. Brox.2010. “Reducing the Cost of Participation: Are States Getting a Return on Early Voting?” Political Research Quarterly, 63(2): 295-303.
26.
GimpelJames G., DyckJoshua J., and ShawDaron R.. 2006. “Location, Knowledge and Time Pressures in the Spatial Structure of Convenience Voting.” Electoral Studies, 25(1): 35-58.
27.
GrimmerJustin, HershEitan, MeredithMarc, MummoloJonathan, and NailClayton. 2018. “Obstacles to Estimating Voter ID Laws' Effect on Turnout.” Journal of Politics, 80(3): 1045-1051.
28.
GrofmanBernard.1993. “Is Turnout the Paradox That Ate Rational Choice Theory?” In Information, Participation, and Choice, ed., Bernard Grofman. 93-103. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
29.
GronkePaul, Millerand, Peter. 2012. “Voting by Mail and Turnout in Oregon.” American Politics Research, 40(6): 976-997.
30.
GronkePaul, RosenbaumEva Galenas, and MillerPeter A.. 2007. “Early Voting and Turnout.” PS: Political Science and Politics, 40(4): 639-645.
31.
HanmerMichael J.2009. Discount Voting: Voter Registration Reforms and Their Effects. New York: Cambridge University Press.
32.
HightonBenjamin.2004. “Voter Registration and Turnout in the United States.” Perspectives on Politics, 2(3): 507-515.
33.
HightonBenjamin.2017. “Voter Identification Laws and Turnout in the United States.” Annual Review of Political Science, 20: 149-167.
34.
KarpJeffrey A., and BanducciSusan A.. 2000. “Going Postal: How All-Mail Elections Influence Turnout.” Political Behavior, 22(3): 223–239.
35.
KnackSteven.1995. “Does Motor Voter Work? Evidence from State-Level Data.” Journal of Politics, 57(3): 796-811.
36.
KnackSteven.2001. “Election-Day Registration: The Second Wave.” American Politics Research, 29(1): 65-78.
37.
KousserThad, and MullinMegan. 2007. “Does Voting by Mail Increase Participation?” Political Analysis, 15(4): 428-445.
38.
LeighleyJan E., and NaglerJonathan. 2014. Who Votes Now? Demographics, Issues, Inequality, and Turnout in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
39.
LiQuan, IIMichael J. Pomante, and SchraufnagelScot. 2018. “Cost of Voting in the American States.” Election Law Journal, 17(3): 234-247.
McDonaldMichael P., and PopkinSamuel. 2001. “The Myth of the Vanishing Voter.” American Political Science Review, 95(4): 963-974.
42.
McGuireWilliam, O'BrienBenjamin Gonzalez, BairdKatherine, CorbettBenjamin, and CollingwoodLoren. 2020. “Does Distance Matter? Evaluating the Impact of Drop Boxes on Voter Turnout.” Social Science Quarterly, 100(5): 1789-1809.
43.
MengerAndrew, and SteinRobert M.. 2020. “Choosing the Less Convenient Way to Vote: An Anomaly in Vote by Mail Elections.” Political Research Quarterly, 73(1): 196-207.
44.
NeelyGrant W., and RichardsonLilliard R.. 2001. “Who is Early Voting?” Social Science Journal, 38(3): 381-392.
45.
OliverJ. Eric.1996. “Who Votes at Home? The Influence of State Law and Party Activity on Absentee Voting and Overall Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science, 40(2): 498-513.
46.
PattersonSamuel C., and CaldeiraGregory A.. 1985. “Mailing in the Vote: Correlates and Consequences of Absentee Voting.” American Journal of Political Science, 29(4): 766-788.
47.
RagsdaleLyn, and RuskJerrold G.. 2010. “Casting Votes: The National Campaign Context and State Turnout, 1920-2008.” Political Research Quarterly, 64(4): 840-857.
48.
RikerWilliam H., and OrdeshookPeter C.. 1968. “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting.” American Political Science Review, 62(1): 25-43.
49.
RosenstoneSteven J., and HansenJohn Mark. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: Macmillan.
50.
SchraufnagelScot, IIMichael J. Pomante, and LiQuan. 2022. “Cost of Voting in the American States: 2022.” Election Law Journal, 21(3): 220-228.
51.
ShawDaron R., and PetrocikJohn R.. 2020. The Turnout Myth. New York: Oxford University Press.
52.
SmithMichael A., AndersonKevin, and RackawayChapman. 2015. State Voting Laws in America: Historical Statutes and Their Modern Implications. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
53.
SouthwellPriscilla L., and BurchettJustin I.. 1997. “Survey of Vote-by-Mail Senate Election in the State of Oregon.” PS: Political Science and Politics, 30(1): 53-57.
54.
SouthwellPriscilla L., and BurchettJustin I.. 2000. “The Effect of All-mail Election on Voter Turnout.” American Politics Quarterly, 28(1): 72-79.
55.
SpringerMelanie J.2012. “State Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections, 1920-2000.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 12(3): 252-283.
56.
SpringerMelanie Jean.2014. How the States Shaped the Nation: American Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout, 1920-2000. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
57.
SteinRobert M.1998. “Early Voting.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 62(1): 57-69.
58.
SteinRobert M., and VonnahmeGreg. 2010. “Early, Absentee, and Mail-In Voting.” In The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior, ed., Jan E. Leighley, 182-199. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
59.
Stewart IIICharles.2021. How We Voted in 2020. Cambridge, MA: MIT Election Data+Science Lab.
60.
ThompsonDaniel M., WuJennifer A., YoderJesse, and HallAndrew B.. 2020. “Universal Vote-by-mail Has No Impact on Partisan Turnout or Vote Share.” PNAS, 117(25): 14052-14056.
61.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2003-2021. Current Populations Survey, Annual Social and Economic Survey.
62.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2021. Personal Income by State. U.S. Department of. Commerce.
63.
WolfingerRaymond E., and RosenstoneSteven J.. 1980. Who Votes?. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
