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Residential Mobility and Voter Turnout

Author

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  • Squire, Peverill
  • Wolfinger, Raymond E.
  • Glass, David P.

Abstract

We examine the characteristics of a largely ignored low-turnout group—people who have recently moved. We find that neither demographic nor attitudinal attributes explain their lower turnout. Instead, the requirement that citizens must register anew after each change in residence constitutes the key stumbling block in the trip to the polls. Since nearly one-third of the nation moves every two years, moving has a large impact on national turnout rates. We offer a proposal to reduce the effect of residential mobility on turnout and estimate that turnout would increase by nine percentage points if the impact of moving could be removed. The partisan consequences of such a change would be marginal.

Suggested Citation

  • Squire, Peverill & Wolfinger, Raymond E. & Glass, David P., 1987. "Residential Mobility and Voter Turnout," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 45-65, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:81:y:1987:i:01:p:45-65_19
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    Cited by:

    1. Geys, Benny & Heinemann, Friedrich & Kalb, Alexander, 2010. "Voter involvement, fiscal autonomy and public sector efficiency: Evidence from German municipalities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 265-278, June.
    2. Jaume Magre & Joan-Josep Vallbé & Mariona Tomà s, 2016. "Moving to suburbia? Effects of residential mobility on community engagement," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(1), pages 17-39, January.
    3. Richard B. Freeman, 2003. "What, Me Vote?," NBER Working Papers 9896, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Knack, Stephen, 1992. "Civic norms, social sanctions and voting turnout," MPRA Paper 28080, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Allison Dale & Aaron Strauss, 2009. "Don't Forget to Vote: Text Message Reminders as a Mobilization Tool," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 787-804, October.
    6. Federico Revelli, 2017. "Voter Turnout in Italian Municipal Elections, 2002–2013," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(2), pages 151-165, July.
    7. Knack, Stephen, 1998. "Election Day Registration: The Second Wave," MPRA Paper 25011, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 1999.
    8. Kevin Denny & Orla Doyle, 2009. "Does Voting History Matter? Analysing Persistence in Turnout," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 17-35, January.
    9. Melissa R. Michelson, 2005. "Meeting the Challenge of Latino Voter Mobilization," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 601(1), pages 85-101, September.
    10. Stephen Knack, 1992. "Civic Norms, Social Sanctions, and Voter Turnout," Rationality and Society, , vol. 4(2), pages 133-156, April.
    11. Joseph McMurray, 2015. "The paradox of information and voter turnout," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 13-23, October.
    12. Oliver Lorz & Stanislav Nastassine, 2007. "Citizen-candidate mobility and endogenous local policy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 27-47, July.
    13. Knack, Stephen & James, White, 2000. "Election-day registration and turnout inequality," MPRA Paper 27244, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Marieke Voorpostel & Hilde Coffé, 2015. "The Effect of Parental Separation on Young Adults’ Political and Civic Participation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 295-316, October.
    15. Jeffrey A. Dubin & Douglas Rivers, 1989. "Selection Bias in Linear Regression, Logit and Probit Models," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 18(2-3), pages 360-390, November.

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