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Abstract

The number of states with election-day registration (EDR) of voters doubled in the early 1990s, providing a new opportunity to estimate the turnout impact of EDR. Because of some important and neglected features of the first wave of EDR states, who adopted EDR in the early 1970s, there is good reason to expect this second wave to generate larger estimates of EDR's turnout impact. Controlling for other factors, new EDR programs are associated with a turnout increase of about 6 percentage points in the midterm elections (1990-1994), and 3 percentage points in the presidential elections (1992-1996). Contrary to expectations, these estimates from the second wave of EDR states do not exceed those generated by studies of the first wave of EDR adoption.

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Election-day Registration

Abstract

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