The Introduction of Voter Registration and Its Effect on Turnout
- 1 January 2006
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Political Analysis
- Vol. 14 (1), 83-100
- https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpi034
Abstract
Studies of voter turnout across states find that those with more facilitative registration laws have higher turnout rates. Eliminating registration barriers altogether is estimated to raise voter participation rates by up to 10%. This article presents panel estimates of the effects of introducing registration that exploits changes in registration laws and turnout within states. New York and Ohio imposed registration requirements on all of their counties in 1965 and 1977, respectively. We find that the introduction of registration to counties that did not previously require registration decreased participation over the long term by three to five percentage points. Though significant, this is lower than estimates of the effects of registration from cross-sectional studies and suggests that expectations about the effects of registration reforms on turnout may be overstated.Keywords
This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Election Day Registration's Effect on U.S. Voter TurnoutSocial Science Quarterly, 2001
- Election-day Registration: The Second WaveAmerican Politics Research, 2001
- Election-day RegistrationAmerican Politics Research, 2001
- Registration Reform and Turnout Change in the American StatesAmerican Politics Quarterly, 1995
- Does "Motor Voter" Work? Evidence from State-Level DataThe Journal of Politics, 1995
- The Impact of Allowing Day of Registration Voting On Turnout in U.S. Elections From 1960 To 1992American Politics Quarterly, 1994
- Influences on Voter Turnout for U. S. House Elections in Non-Presidential YearsLegislative Studies Quarterly, 1985
- Theory and Voting Research: Some Reflections on Converse's “Change in the American Electorate”American Political Science Review, 1974
- Comment on Burnham's “Theory and Voting Research”American Political Science Review, 1974
- Registration and Voting: Putting First Things FirstAmerican Political Science Review, 1967