Are more politically knowledgeable registered voters more likely to cast their ballots prior to E... more Are more politically knowledgeable registered voters more likely to cast their ballots prior to Election Day when given an option to do so? We argue that individuals with high political knowledge are more likely to take advantage of convenience voting opportunities because they have command over staticgeneral facts, enabling them to make informed choices when voting. Drawing on five Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) pre-and postelection national surveys and an original survey of registered voters in Florida conducted in 2017, we test if political knowledge affects the method of voting. Estimating a series of multinomial logistic regression models with fixed-effects for voters registered in American states that permit convenience voting, and controlling for socioeconomic , political, and campaign effects, we find that voters with greater static-general political knowledge are more likely to vote early, and those with low political knowledge are more likely to wait until Election Day to cast their ballot.
Might additional opportunities to cast a ballot prior to Election Day increase the probability th... more Might additional opportunities to cast a ballot prior to Election Day increase the probability that an individual turns out to vote? More narrowly, does convenience voting have differential effects, altering the method of how some registrants cast their ballot? Scholars disagree as to whether convenience voting bolsters turnout, or even if it alters the method of voting. We argue that the targeted adoption of early in-person voting on the campuses of public colleges and universities lowers the barriers of casting a ballot, increasing the turnout of young registrants. Drawing on individual-level election administration data from Florida in the 2018 general election, we offer a series of models (differences-indifferences (DD), differences-indifferences-indifferences (DDD), and matching combined with differences-indifferences) to estimate the effect of the expansion of early in-person voting on eight public campuses. Although we find uneven effects of the policy reform on overall turnout, we find consistent evidence that the adoption of on-campus early voting not only made it more likely that young registrants exposed to the policy turned out to vote, but that it also shifted the timing of when these young voters cast a ballot.
This study investigates the reliability of Florida’s voter registration files through a phone sur... more This study investigates the reliability of Florida’s voter registration files through a phone survey, asking respondents to verify their records. We find 17.7% of registrants fail to verify at least one identifying piece of information. Applying the total survey error (TSE) framework, we classify these errors as due to coverage error, measurement error, or processing error. These inconsistencies create election administration and campaign inefficiencies, which lead to poorer voter experiences, and challenge the validity of some research based on these data. Furthermore, if registration records do not accurately capture the members of protected groups, the data are less helpful in both government monitoring and enforcement. We suggest voter registration forms should be treated like survey questionnaires so as to improve data quality with better form design, and that some vote overreport bias is attributable to limitations of voter file data, not to respondents’ vote misreporting.
This study examines the effect of telephone survey dialing patterns on lab productivity and surve... more This study examines the effect of telephone survey dialing patterns on lab productivity and survey responses. Using an original data set of paradata from 2010 to 2017 and a machine learning technique for variable selection, we find that early and late afternoon shifts are as productive as late evening shifts for both landline and cellphone Random Digit Dialing (RDD) samples. Also, early weekdays are more productive than the weekend for the cellphone RDD samples. Most importantly, time of the interview affects survey responses; therefore, survey practitioners and scholars should be cognizant of this effect when scheduling calls.
Are more politically knowledgeable registered voters more likely to cast their ballots prior to E... more Are more politically knowledgeable registered voters more likely to cast their ballots prior to Election Day when given an option to do so? We argue that individuals with high political knowledge are more likely to take advantage of convenience voting opportunities because they have command over staticgeneral facts, enabling them to make informed choices when voting. Drawing on five Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) pre-and postelection national surveys and an original survey of registered voters in Florida conducted in 2017, we test if political knowledge affects the method of voting. Estimating a series of multinomial logistic regression models with fixed-effects for voters registered in American states that permit convenience voting, and controlling for socioeconomic , political, and campaign effects, we find that voters with greater static-general political knowledge are more likely to vote early, and those with low political knowledge are more likely to wait until Election Day to cast their ballot.
Might additional opportunities to cast a ballot prior to Election Day increase the probability th... more Might additional opportunities to cast a ballot prior to Election Day increase the probability that an individual turns out to vote? More narrowly, does convenience voting have differential effects, altering the method of how some registrants cast their ballot? Scholars disagree as to whether convenience voting bolsters turnout, or even if it alters the method of voting. We argue that the targeted adoption of early in-person voting on the campuses of public colleges and universities lowers the barriers of casting a ballot, increasing the turnout of young registrants. Drawing on individual-level election administration data from Florida in the 2018 general election, we offer a series of models (differences-indifferences (DD), differences-indifferences-indifferences (DDD), and matching combined with differences-indifferences) to estimate the effect of the expansion of early in-person voting on eight public campuses. Although we find uneven effects of the policy reform on overall turnout, we find consistent evidence that the adoption of on-campus early voting not only made it more likely that young registrants exposed to the policy turned out to vote, but that it also shifted the timing of when these young voters cast a ballot.
This study investigates the reliability of Florida’s voter registration files through a phone sur... more This study investigates the reliability of Florida’s voter registration files through a phone survey, asking respondents to verify their records. We find 17.7% of registrants fail to verify at least one identifying piece of information. Applying the total survey error (TSE) framework, we classify these errors as due to coverage error, measurement error, or processing error. These inconsistencies create election administration and campaign inefficiencies, which lead to poorer voter experiences, and challenge the validity of some research based on these data. Furthermore, if registration records do not accurately capture the members of protected groups, the data are less helpful in both government monitoring and enforcement. We suggest voter registration forms should be treated like survey questionnaires so as to improve data quality with better form design, and that some vote overreport bias is attributable to limitations of voter file data, not to respondents’ vote misreporting.
This study examines the effect of telephone survey dialing patterns on lab productivity and surve... more This study examines the effect of telephone survey dialing patterns on lab productivity and survey responses. Using an original data set of paradata from 2010 to 2017 and a machine learning technique for variable selection, we find that early and late afternoon shifts are as productive as late evening shifts for both landline and cellphone Random Digit Dialing (RDD) samples. Also, early weekdays are more productive than the weekend for the cellphone RDD samples. Most importantly, time of the interview affects survey responses; therefore, survey practitioners and scholars should be cognizant of this effect when scheduling calls.
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