The authors use the 1993 municipal election in Atlanta, Georgia, and a special election to fill two vacancies on the Fulton County (Georgia) Commission to test ballot-confusion, saliency-of-the-contest, and voter-fatigue explanations for roll-off (ballot noncompletion). No evidence of the ballot-confusion explanation is found, but some evidence of voter fatigue and contest visibility is apparent. Racial differences in roll-off have implications for the responsiveness of public officials and the creation of single-member districts.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bullock, C. S. III , and S. A. MacManus. 1984. Measuring racial bloc voting is difficult for small jurisdictions. National Civic Review73:336-342.
2.
Burnham, W. D.1965. The changing shape of the American political universe. American Political Science Review59:7-28.
3.
Darcy, R. , and A. Schneider. 1989. Confusing ballots, roll-off, and the black vote. Western Political Quarterly42:347-364.
4.
Engstrom, R. L. , and V. M. Caridas. 1991. Voting for judges: Race and roll-off in judicial elections. In Political participation and American democracy, edited by W. Crotty, 171-191. New York: Greenwood.
5.
Engstrom, R. L. , and M. D. McDonald. 1985. Quantitative evidence in vote dilution litigation: Political participation and polarized voting. The Urban Lawyer17:369-377.
6.
Fenno, R. E., Jr.1978. Home style. Boston: Little, Brown.
7.
Foskett, K.1993a. Commission race black and white in poll. Atlanta Constitution, 28 October.
8.
Foskett, K.1993b. Defeat holds lessons for Martin King. Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 14 November.
9.
Foskett, K.1993c. No illegality found in ballot confusion. Atlanta Journal, 4 November.
10.
Foskett, K. , and P. Scott. 1993. King campaign says ballot was confusing. Atlanta Constitution, 3 November.
11.
Kingdon, J.1966. Candidates for office. New York: Random House.
12.
Loewen, J. W.1982. Social science in the courtroom. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
13.
Magleby, D. B.1984. Direct legislation: Voting on ballot propositions in the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
14.
Price, H. D.1957. The negro and southern politics. New York: New York Univ. Press.
15.
Sheffield, J. F., Jr. , and C. D. Hadley. 1984. Racial voting in a biracial city: An examination of some hypotheses. American Politics Quarterly12:449-464.
16.
Vanderleeuw, J. M. , and R. L. Engstrom. 1987. Race, referendums, and roll-off. Journal of Politics49:1081-1092.
17.
Vanderleeuw, J. M. , and G. H. Utter. 1993. Voter roll-off and the electoral context: A test of two theses. Social Science Quarterly74:664-673.
18.
Walker, J. L.1966. Ballot forms and voter fatigue: An analysis of the office block and party column ballots. Midwest Journal of Political Science10:448-463.