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Voter turnout is affected by many variables - from family and community factors to election competition and mobilization.
Here are seven factors frequently cited as very important to voter turnout. 1. A Reason to Vote: Issues at Stake, Political Competition, and Voter Choice
A critical factor in voter turnout is having a reason to vote. When voters believe key issues are at stake, they want a say in the outcome. HIgh competition levels also help voters feel like their vote can actually make a difference. Competition often leads to higher levels of voter education, mobilization and media coverage, all of which further enable and encourage civic participation and turnout. Finally, if there are real, differentiated choices of candidates, voters are more attuned to the direction of public policy.
2. Voting Practices and Barriers
In 2004, close to ten million eligible and interested voters did not or could not vote due to outmoded voting practices, avoidable errors or confusing procedures that vary in all 50 states and the majority of counties, cities and even towns. For example:
- An estimated three million voters could not or did not vote because of registration problems, which could have been easily addressed if all states allowed voters to fix their registration or make a new registration on Election Day (as is already done in 8 states).
- About one million citizen-age voters where barred from voting because of a past conviction, despite the abundance of evidence that identifies voting as a way for ex-offenders to re-connect with their communities and to decrease recidivism. This would not have to be the case if all states had the same laws as Indiana, Ohio or the 14 other states (and many other countries) that restore voting rights after time served.
- Several million votes are lost in every major election due to poor election administration that results from underinvestment, low standards, and partisan interference in the election process. Well-documented problems with equipment, poll worker hiring and training, and lines also contribute to ballot losses.
Lost Vote Summary: 2004 Election Election Issue | Estimated Voters Prevented or Discouraged from Voting | Voter Registration Issues | 3 million (+) | Disenfranchisement of Ex-Offenders* | 1 million | Election Equipment
and Ballot Design | 500,000 | Unnecessarily Long Lines and other
Fixable Poll Procedures | 500,000 (+) | Voters with Disabilities | 1 – 1.5 million | Low Literacy/Limited Language | 1 million (+) | Inconvenience/ Election on Workday
(plus lack of convenient early voting options) | 1 million (+) | Problems with Receiving, Returning or Counting Mail-in Ballots | 200,000 (+) | TOTAL “LOST” VOTES | 8.2 MILLION | Estimates include citizens 18 years of age who tried to vote or would have in all likelihood voted but for a fixable issue related to election administration. Based research from the U.S. Census, Harvard University Vanishing Voter Project, CalTech/MIT Voting Project and other election sources.
(+) A conservative estimate
* In 2004, close to five million voting age Americans could not vote due to felon disenfranchisement laws. Around three million had completed their prison sentence and were back rebuilding their lives in communities but still barred from voting 35 states. This estimate assumes about one-third of theses ex-offenders would have registered and voted in 2004.
3. Mobilization
Voter mobilization is a critical turnout factor, inevitably tied to the level of competition in an election and issues at stake. It is also inevitably impacted by election barriers and voter confidence in the voting process, or by who is doing the mobilizing and the amount and type of messengers involved.
With a competitive race and more choices for voters, mobilization can make a big difference. Voter mobilization brings excitement and urgency. It breaks down barriers and raises the stakes. It gives voters a stronger incentive to find their poll on a busy day and helps them with the information and logistics (e.g. a ride to the polls) needed to vote.
Voter mobilization is a broad category of activity. It can take many forms, from the partisan to the nonpartisan. Mobilization can take place anywhere – where people live, work, learn, get services, socialize or seek information – and can include education on the issues, the candidates, or the how, where and when of voting.
4. Personal Contact
Someone who has been personally contacted, especially by someone they know, is more likely to vote than someone who has not. The challenge and opportunity of today is to expand our ideas about personal contact. When? Where? By whom? This information makes a difference. Personal contact is far more likely to make an impact if it comes from a friend, a neighbor, someone from a similar background, or directly from the candidate. Substitutes work less well. Some, especially older voters, can be reached at home or on a standard phone list. Others are much more likely to be successfully contacted by and respond to appeals based outside the home, in school, at work, on-line or through various other social networks and types of communication.
5. Family and Friends: Voting as a Cultural and Civic Tradition
Those who grow up around family members who vote and discuss politics frequently are more likely to vote themselves. Simply talking about current events with friends and relatives can generate interest in the political process and encourage someone to vote. The influence of family, friends and trusted organizations are particularly important to first-time voters. A Harvard University poll said 61% of first-time voters polled in 2004 cited the importance of families and organizations in voting.
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In a 2006 survey of first-time younger black voters, the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation Project found that first-time voters overwhelmingly cited families and community organizations as the most important influences in voting and becoming educated on the issues.
6. Voter Education
Education has always been a significant factor in a person’s likelihood of voting. The more educated the person is, the more likely it is that they will vote. But beyond that, civic and voter education programs, which teach lessons on voting how-to's and elections, help to increase turnout by giving non-voters the knowledge and confidence they need to participate.
7. Trust in Elections and Government
People are less likely to vote if they don’t believe that their vote will be counted, or if they don’t trust the government. A loss of faith in the electoral process leads to a belief that a person's vote doesn't really matter. Accountable elections and a responsive government help to ensure that voters stay engaged in the process.
Beyond Turnout – Why Is Competition Important
“The benefits of competitive elections include a better informed electorate, stronger parties and political organizations. It is a sense of legitimacy by providing voters the chance to re-elect or replace an incumbent and responsiveness of overall legislative outcomes to the public mood. It for these reasons that noted political scientists and others specifically list competitive elections as one necessary condition of democracy.”
Dr. Michael McDonald,
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