Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Vote Centers and the Voter Experience

Vote Centers and the Voter Experience The scholarship regarding vote centers primarily focuses on their impact on voter turnout. Though previous literature suggests modest and conditional increases in voter participation, the mechanism by which vote centers increase participation is less understood. One suggested mechanism is that they provide voters a better experience at the polling place. In this article, we investigate whether voters who cast their ballot at vote centers have a better experience than those who vote at traditional precinct polling places. Utilizing a unique dataset collected from exit polls of Election Day voters before and after the implementation of vote centers in Harris County, Texas, we examine if vote centers improved the voters’ experience. Contrary to theoretical expectations, we find that those who voted at a vote center reported having a more negative experience. This negative experience is driven primarily by longer lines and less helpful poll workers. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Politics Research SAGE

Vote Centers and the Voter Experience

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/sage/vote-centers-and-the-voter-experience-a6Gu9vPCqO

References (50)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021
ISSN
1532-673X
eISSN
1552-3373
DOI
10.1177/1532673x211029581
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The scholarship regarding vote centers primarily focuses on their impact on voter turnout. Though previous literature suggests modest and conditional increases in voter participation, the mechanism by which vote centers increase participation is less understood. One suggested mechanism is that they provide voters a better experience at the polling place. In this article, we investigate whether voters who cast their ballot at vote centers have a better experience than those who vote at traditional precinct polling places. Utilizing a unique dataset collected from exit polls of Election Day voters before and after the implementation of vote centers in Harris County, Texas, we examine if vote centers improved the voters’ experience. Contrary to theoretical expectations, we find that those who voted at a vote center reported having a more negative experience. This negative experience is driven primarily by longer lines and less helpful poll workers.

Journal

American Politics Research – SAGE

Published: Nov 1, 2021

There are no references for this article.