election law

This month CIRCLE released a report on the effects of state voter registration laws on young voter turnout.

The report shows that Election Day Registration (EDR) had the greatest effect in the November 2008 election in increasing youth turnout.

Election Day registration laws (EDR) allow voters to avoid the inconvenience and pressure of registration deadlines. As of 2008, nine states (Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) allow voters to register at the polls on Election Day. In a 2003 study about the 2000 Presidential Election, it was found that turnout was, on average, 14 percentage points higher among 18- to 24-year-old youth in states that had EDR. EDR may also decrease the disparity between younger and older voters. Before implementing EDR, Idaho, New Hampshire, and Wyoming were among the worst states in terms of turnout inequality between younger and older Americans. After EDR laws took effect, all three states decreased this gap dramatically. Wyoming, for example, moved from 39th place to the 7th smallest turnout gap.

What is so impressive is how dramatic the effect of EDR was in increasing turnout (emphasis added):

After controlling for effects of educational attainment, gender, marital status, age, race, and ethnicity, young people whose home state implemented EDR were 41% more likely to vote in the November 2008 election than those who did not have residence in the EDR states.

The report also shows that no-excuse absentee voting/vote by mail most likely had a strong effect, 23% of young voters voted absentee, however CIRCLE was "not able to estimate how the use of this strategy impacts state-by-state turnout since many young people, such as college students, live outside of their home state." In-person absentee voting was appeared to be a convenience to young voters who were already planning to vote, but CIRCLE does not believe that its availability turned young voters out that were not already determined to vote.

Extended polling hours resulted in an increase in the turnout of young workers and part-time students, but did not seem to have much of an effect on full-time students.

The general theme of the report is one that we often discuss in the youth political community: that lowering the barriers to voting will increase turnout. Youth organizations should be working with state legislators to reform their elections processes and enact some or all of the policies mentioned in the report, as well as others, such as online registration and permanent vote-by-mail.

As I've long argued, youth turnout is about access, not apathy. In 2004, over 80% of registered youth cast a ballot on election day, commensurate with the rest of the registered electorate.

Today, CIRCLE released a fact sheet that adds more grist to that mill by illustrating the impact of election laws and polling accessibility (pdf) on youth turnout at the polls.

CIRCLE found that simple measures like Vote by Mail and Election Day Registration could drastically improve young voter turnout in both Midterm and Presidential elections:

Furthermore, simple measures to educate citizens about their polling place location, and provide sample ballots can further increase participation among young voters.

It's amazing what can happen when states actually work with citizens to make the voting process more navigable.

The report also contains state-by-state information on the availability of election day registration, vote by mail, extended voting hours, unrestricted absentee voting, sample ballot mailings and more.