Election Administration, Resource Allocation, and Turnout: Evidence from Kenya

Abstract

Decisions about how to organize and run an election can shape political participation. Policy choices may distribute election resources unequally, skewing voting outcomes. In low- and middle-income countries where electoral capacity and resources are scarce and decision-making highly centralized, election administration has the potential to shape results on a large scale. In the context of Kenya's August 2017 elections, I study the consequences of a legislated threshold that determines the capacity of polling centers to quickly serve voters by reducing election-day lines. Using a regression discontinuity design I find that turnout is 2.4% lower in congested polling places just below the threshold relative to polling places above the threshold. Relative to other hypothetical thresholds, the chosen threshold benefits the incumbent president, as incumbent strongholds receive more polling resources than opposition areas. The results demonstrate how electoral resource allocation shapes political behavior and election outcomes.

The Public Funding of Election Administration: Evidence from a British General Election

“…For example, lower capacity and spending in some disadvantaged areas may reinforce pre-existing inequalities. There may also be electoral consequences, benefitting one partisan side over another (Harris, 2021). Cottrell et al (2020: 23) therefore suggest that resource allocation in election administration should be seen 'as indicative of the underlying fairness of the electoral process and the extent to which all voters are treated equally under the law'.…”