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A Precinct Too Far: Turnout and Voting Costs

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  • Enrico Cantoni

Abstract

I study the effects of voting costs—specifically, distance to polling location—using geographic discontinuities. Opposite sides of boundaries between voting precincts are observationally identical, except for their assigned polling locations. This discontinuous assignment produces sharp changes in voters' travel distance to cast their ballots. In nine municipalities in Massachusetts and Minnesota, a 1 standard deviation (0.245 mile) increase in distance reduces ballots cast by 2 to 5 percent across four elections. During non-presidential elections, effects are three times larger in high-minority areas than in low-minority areas. Finally, I simulate the impact of various counterfactual assignments of voters to polling places.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrico Cantoni, 2020. "A Precinct Too Far: Turnout and Voting Costs," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 61-85, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:61-85
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20180306
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Angela Cools, 2020. "Parents, Infants, and Voter Turnout," Working Papers 20-04, Davidson College, Department of Economics.
    2. Kelly, Andrea & Lindo, Jason M. & Packham, Analisa, 2020. "The power of the IUD: Effects of expanding access to contraception through Title X clinics," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    3. Zhizheng Zhang & Wentao Wei & Tianlu Zhu & Ming Zhou & Yajun Li, 2022. "New Dimension on Quality of Life Differences among Older Adults: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Consumption in Urban and Rural Areas of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-23, November.
    4. Enrico Cantoni & Vincent Pons, 2021. "Strict Id Laws Don’t Stop Voters: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Panel, 2008–2018," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(4), pages 2615-2660.
    5. Ben Blemings & Margaret Bock, 2020. "Disamenity or a Signal of Competence? The Empirical Political Economy of Local Road Maintenance," Working Papers 20-07, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    6. Mariella Gonzales & Gianmarco León-Ciliotta & Luis R. Martínez, 2022. "How Effective Are Monetary Incentives to Vote? Evidence from a Nationwide Policy," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 293-326, January.
    7. Bowles, Jeremy & Larreguy, Horacio & Woller, Anders, 2020. "Information Versus Control: The Electoral Consequences of Polling Place Creation," IAST Working Papers 20-113, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    8. Marco Frank & David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2023. "Higher turnout increases incumbency advantages: Evidence from mayoral elections," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 529-555, July.
    9. Schreiner, Nicolas, 2021. "Changes in Well-Being Around Elections," Working papers 2021/03, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    10. Marco Frank & David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2020. "Electoral Turnout During States of Emergency and Effects on Incumbent Vote Share," CREMA Working Paper Series 2020-10, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    11. Schmidt, Adam & Albert, Laura A., 2022. "Designing pandemic-resilient voting systems," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Billings, Stephen B. & Braun, Noah & Jones, Daniel & Shi, Ying, 2022. "Disparate Racial Impacts of Shelby County v. Holder on Voter Turnout," IZA Discussion Papers 15829, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Kyle Raze, 2022. "Voting rights and the resilience of Black turnout," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1127-1141, July.
    14. Jean-Victor Alipour & Lindlacher Valentin, 2022. "No Surprises, Please: Voting Costs and Electoral Turnout," CESifo Working Paper Series 9759, CESifo.
    15. Sylvia Klosin, 2021. "Automatic Double Machine Learning for Continuous Treatment Effects," Papers 2104.10334, arXiv.org.
    16. 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.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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