Reducing the Undervote With Vote by Mail
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Greg Vonnahme; Andrew Menger; Robert M. Stein
- Source
- American Politics Research. 46:1039-1064
- Subject
- Ballot
Sociology and Political Science
Political science
0502 economics and business
05 social sciences
050602 political science & public administration
Advertising
050207 economics
0506 political science
- Language
- ISSN
- 1552-3373
1532-673X
We study how ballot completion levels in Colorado responded to the adoption of universal vote by mail elections (VBM). VBM systems are among the most widespread and significant election reforms that states have adopted in modern elections. VBM elections provide voters more time to become informed about ballot choices and opportunities to research their choices at the same time as they fill out their ballots. By creating a more information-rich voting environment, VBM should increase ballot completion, especially among peripheral voters. The empirical results show that VBM elections lead to greater ballot completion, but that this effect is only substantial in presidential elections.