![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Voter registration is thought to have a substantial negative effect on American voter turnout. The authors clarify this understanding in two ways. First, using a natural experiment in Wisconsin, they estimate the pure effect of registration, stripped of aspects such as the closing date. Registration lowers turnout by about 2 percentage points. Second, the authors argue that administrative capacities of local election officials are important moderators of how much registration affects turnout. Municipalities with less capacity are associated with bigger decreases in turnout. Researchers and policy makers should consider administrative capacity as a component in the equal application of voting laws.
References
Section:
| Angrist, Joshua D., Pischke, Jörn-Steffen. 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Ansolabehere, Stephen, Konisky, David M. 2006. “The Introduction of Voter Registration and Its Effect on Turnout.” Political Analysis 14:83-100. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Beck, Nathaniel, Katz, Jonathan N. 2007. “Random Coefficient Models for Time-Series Cross-Section Data: Monte Carlo Experiments.” Political Analysis 15:182-95. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Bertrand, Marianne, Duflo, Esther, Mullainathan, Sendhil. 2004. “How Much Should We Trust Differences-In- Differences Estimates?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119:249-75. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Brians, Craig Leonard, Grofman, Bernard. 2001. “Election Day Registration’s Effects on U.S. Voter Turnout.” Social Science Quarterly 82:170-83. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Creek, Heather M., Karnes, Kimberly A. 2010. “Federalism and Election Law: Implementation Issues in Rural America.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 40:275-95. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Fitzgerald, Mary. 2005. “Greater Convenience but Not Greater Turnout: The Impact of Alternative Voting Methods on Electoral Participation in the United States.” American Politics Research 33:842-67. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Gerken, Heather K. 2009. The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System Is Failing and How to Fix It. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Geys, Benny. 2006. “Explaining Voter Turnout: A Review of Aggregate-Level Research.” Electoral Studies 25:637-63. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Hanmer, Michael J. 2009. Discount Voting: Voter Registration Reforms and Their Effects. New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Harris, Joseph P. 1929. Registration of Voters in the United States. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Google Scholar | |
| Hasen, Richard L. 2005. “Beyond the Margin of Litigation: Reforming U.S. Election Administration to Avoid Electoral Meltdown.” Washington & Lee Law Review 62:937-99. Google Scholar | |
| Highton, Benjamin. 1997. “Easy Registration and Voter Turnout.” Journal of Politics 59:565-75. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Highton, Benjamin. 2004. “Voter Registration and Turnout in the United States.” Perspectives on Politics 2:507-15. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Highton, Benjamin, Wolfinger, Raymond E. 1998. “Estimating the Effects of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.” Political Behavior 20:79-104. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Ho, Daniel E., Imai, Kosuke, King, Gary, Stuart, Elizabeth A. 2007. “Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference.” Political Analysis 15:199-236. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Ho, Daniel E., Imai, Kosuke, King, Gary, Stuart, Elizabeth A. 2009. “MatchIT: Nonparametric Preprocessing for Parametric Causal Inference.” Unpublished manuscript, July 13. http://gking.harvard.edu/node/4355/rbuild_documentation/matchit.pdf Google Scholar | |
| Huefner, Steven F., Tokaji, Daniel P., Foley, Edward B. with Cemenska, Nathan A. 2007. From Registration to Recounts: The Election Ecosystems of Five Midwestern States. Columbus: Ohio State University, Michael Moritz School of Law. Google Scholar | |
| Imbens, Guido, Kalyanaraman, Karthik. 2009. “Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator.” Unpublished manuscript, Harvard University. Google Scholar | |
| Keele, Luke, Minozzi, William. 2010. “How Much Is Minnesota Like Wisconsin? States as Counterfactuals.” Unpublished manuscript, Ohio State University. Google Scholar | |
| Kimball, David C., Baybeck, Brady, Collins-Foley, Jennifer, Schmit, Connie, Maxwell, Chere. 2010. “Survey of Poll Worker Recruitment, Training, and Evaluation Practices by Local Election Officials.” Unpublished manuscript. Google Scholar | |
| Knack, Stephen. 1995. “Does ‘Motor-Voter’ Work? Evidence from State-Level Data.” Journal of Politics 57:796-811. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| McDonald, Michael P., Popkin, Samuel L. 2001. “The Myth of the Vanishing Voter.” American Political Science Review 95:963-74. Google Scholar, ISI | |
| Mitchell, Glenn E., Wlezien, Christopher. 1995. “The Impact of Legal Restraints on Voter Registration, Turnout, and the Composition of the American Electorate.” Political Behavior 17:179-202. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Nagler, Jonathan. 1991. “The Effect of Registration Laws and Education on U.S. Voter Turnout.” American Political Science Review 85:1393-405. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Nicholson-Crotty, Sean, Meier, Kenneth J. 2002. “Size Doesn’t Matter: In Defense of Single-State Studies.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 2:411-22. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals | |
| Piven, Frances Fox, Cloward, Richard A. 1988. Why Americans Don’t Vote. New York: Pantheon. Google Scholar | |
| Powell, G. Bingham 1986. “American Voter Turnout in Comparative Perspective.” American Political Science Review 80:17-43. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Rhine, Staci L. 1996. “An Analysis of the Impact of Registration Factors on Turnout in 1992.” Political Behavior 18:171-85. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Smolka, Richard G. 1977. Election Day Registration: The Minnesota and Wisconsin Experience in 1976. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Google Scholar | |
| Timpone, Richard J. 1998. “Structure, Behavior, and Voter Turnout in the United States.” American Political Science Review 92:145-58. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| White, Leonard D. 1928. “Public Administration, 1927.” American Political Science Review 22:339-48. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau. 2005. “An Evaluation: Voter Registration.” Report 05-12. Google Scholar | |
| Wolfinger, Raymond E., Highton, Benjamin, Mullin, Megan. 2005. “How Postregistration Laws Affect the Turnout of Citizens Registered to Vote.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 5:1-23. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Wolfinger, Raymond E., Rosenstone, Steven J. 1980. Who Votes? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. 2002. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar |
