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The Effect of Registration Laws on Voter Turnout

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  • Rosenstone, Steven J.
  • Wolfinger, Raymond E.

Abstract

After the drastic relaxation of voter registration requirements in the 1960s, do present state laws keep people away from the polls? More specifically, which provisions have how much effect on what kinds of people? We have answered these questions with data from the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau in November 1972.State registration laws reduced turnout in the 1972 presidential election by about nine percentage points. The impact of the laws was heaviest in the South and on less educated people of both races. Early deadlines for registration and limited registration office hours were the biggest impediments to turnout.Contrary to expectations, changing these requirements would not substantially alter the character of the electorate. The voting population would be faintly less affluent and educated; the biggest difference would be a matter of one or two percentage points. In strictly political terms, the change would be even fainter–a gain for the Democrats of less than half a percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosenstone, Steven J. & Wolfinger, Raymond E., 1978. "The Effect of Registration Laws on Voter Turnout," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 22-45, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:72:y:1978:i:01:p:22-45_15
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee Dutter, 1985. "An application of the multicandidate calculus of voting to the 1972 and 1976 German federal elections," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 405-424, January.
    2. Jan Fagerberg & Maryann P. Feldman & Martin Srholec, 2014. "Technological dynamics and social capability: US states and European nations," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 313-337.
    3. Andersen, Jørgen Juel & Fiva, Jon H. & Natvik, Gisle James, 2014. "Voting when the stakes are high," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 157-166.
    4. Donald P. Green & Jennifer K. Smith, 2003. "Professionalization of Campaigns and the Secret History of Collective Action Problems," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 15(3), pages 321-339, July.
    5. Christine Fauvelle-Aymar & Abel François, 2018. "Place of registration and place of residence: the non-linear detrimental impact of transportation cost on electoral participation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 176(3), pages 405-440, September.
    6. Alejandro Corvalan & Paulo Cox, 2014. "`Can I register to vote before I am 18?'Information Costs and Participation," Working Papers 60, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales.
    7. Tony Caporale & Marc Poitras, 2014. "Voter turnout in US presidential elections: does Carville’s law explain the time series?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(29), pages 3630-3638, October.
    8. Nadia Fiorino & Nicola Pontarollo & Roberto Ricciuti, 2016. "Voter Turnout in European Parliament Elections: A Spatial Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 5910, CESifo.
    9. John Carter, 1984. "Early projections and voter turnout in the 1980 presidential election," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 195-202, January.
    10. John Foley & Homer Steedly, 1980. "Levels, trends and determinants of pluralism: A comparative analysis of U.S. counties," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 33-46, March.
    11. Oliver Engist & Felix Schafmeister, 2022. "Do political protests mobilize voters? Evidence from the Black Lives Matter protests," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 293-313, December.
    12. Knack, Stephen, 1993. "Does motor voter work? Evidence from state-level data," MPRA Paper 28079, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 1994.

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