What is the cost of voting?

Abstract

Despite a wealth of literature on the determinants of electoral turnout, little is known about the cost of voting. Some studies suggest that facilitating voting slightly increases turnout, but what ultimately matters is people's subjective perceptions of how costly voting is. This paper offers a first comprehensive analysis of the subjective cost of voting and its impact on voter turnout. We use data from an original survey conducted in Canada and data from the Making Electoral Democracy Work project which covers 23 elections among 5 different countries. We distinguish direct and information/decision voting costs. That is, the direct costs that are related to the act of voting and the costs that are related to the efforts to make (an informed) choice. We find that the cost of voting is generally perceived to be very small but that those who find voting more difficult are indeed less prone to vote, controlling for a host of other considerations. That impact, however, is relatively small, and the direct cost matters more than the information/decision cost.The voter turnout literature is one of the most voluminous in electoral research. Scholars have examined the impact of dozens of variables that affect individuals' propensity to vote (for literature reviews, see Blais, 2006;Smets and van Ham, 2013). Focusing only on the most prominent ones, the literature has studied the impact of variables that capture citizens' resources (e.g., education, income, race) (Brady et al., 1995), indicators of political mobilization (e.g., trade union membership, attendance of religious services, partisan mobilization) (Goldstein and Ridout, 2002), cognitive factors such as political information and political interest (Denny and Doyle, 2008), and a whole series of psychological attitudes such as a sense of civic duty, external and internal political efficacy, political trust, cynicism, psychosocial abilities, patience, personality traits, self-efficacy and self-esteem (Smets and van Ham, 2013). All the variables mentioned so far are factors that increase (or decrease) citizens' abilities and willingness to turn out to vote. The literature is remarkably silent, however, on the role of factors that hold citizens from voting, that is, the cost of voting.The cost of voting (or the 'C' term) figures prominently in the rational choice model (Downs, 1957;Riker and Ordeshook, 1968). In this model, it is assumed that if the benefits of voting outweigh the costs, citizens will turn out to vote. The implication is that the higher the cost of voting, the less prone are people to vote. This may appear as a truism, but it is one with important policy consequences: rational choice theories have inspired policy-makers to reduce the costs of voting to combat declining turnout levels. From their side, scholars have explored how the rules that make it is easier or more difficult to vote affect the cost of voting and in this way voter turnout. It has been shown that distance to the polling station as well as changes in polling locations negatively affect...

Distance and Trust: An Examination of the Two Opposing Factors Impacting Adoption of Postal Voting Among Citizens Living Abroad

“…When it comes to the costs, voting in person demands significant effort because it requires voters to visit a polling station. In fact, these direct costs related to reaching the polling station have been found to be a stronger determinant of citizens' electoral participation than information/decision costs needed to acquire sufficient information to make a voting decision (Blais et al, 2019). Moreover, the travel expenses and time commitment grow with the increasing distance to the nearest polling station.…”

Comment chercher ?

“…je conclus au contraire le quatrième chapitre de cette manière : « For most people most of the time the subjective cost of voting is extremely small » (2020 : 91). Puisque je juge cette 'simple' question descriptive fondamentale, j'y ai ensuite consacré tout un article (Blais et al, 2019) et un chapitre dans un ouvrage récent intitulé The Motivation to Vote (Blais et Daoust, 2020 : 70). Le chapitre se termine ainsi : « The bottom line, however, is that for a great majority of people, the cost of voting is small.…”

“…No (Sevi et al, 2019) ; What is the Cost of Voting ? (Blais et al, 2019) J’ai évidemment une prédilection pour les titres se terminant avec un point d’interrogation, ce qui reflète ma conception de la recherche qui consiste à donner des réponses les plus claires possible (même si souvent nuancées) à des questions les plus simples possible. Cette fois-ci, j’en suis rapidement venu à ce choix : Comment chercher ?…”

Can unconditional cash transfers encourage voters to cast ballots? Evidence from elections in Brazil

“…There are costs associated with the act of voting (e.g., Blais et al, 2019). Efforts to get in the voting station and the time spent in casting a ballot are examples of election day costs (direct costs).…”