Timeless Tactics or Modern Misfires: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Established Voter Engagement Methods in US Local Elections

Abstract

Voter participation in US local elections consistently lags behind turnout rates in national elections, particularly in suburban jurisdictions. While voting reminders, or “nudges,” have been consistently linked to increased turnout in high-salience national elections, and have demonstrated promise in local elections, research on their effectiveness in these lower-salience contexts remains limited. This study uses a non-partisan, get-out-the vote field experiment during a contested local election in the United States to test the effectiveness of established voter engagement methods, specifically mailers, in increasing turnout. Given their documented success in varied election contexts, these methods were expected to yield small but measurable increases in local voter turnout. However, contrary to expectations, the findings reveal that postcard mailers, regardless of message content, had no statistically significant effect on turnout. These null results raise important questions regarding the promise of traditional voter mobilization tactics in low-salience, local elections and help clarify the conditions under which these approaches are feasible and may or may not support local political engagement.