caa a22 4500 475800621 CHVBK 20180406123736.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1023/A:1026662130163 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1023/A:1026662130163 Going Postal: How All-Mail Elections Influence Turnout [Elektronische Daten] [Jeffrey Karp, Susan Banducci] We examine the question of whether or not reducing the costs of voting by conducting elections entirely through the mail rather than at the traditional polling place increases participation. Using election data from Oregon, we examine whether or not elections conducted through the mail increase turnout in both local and statewide elections. Using precinct-level data merged with census data we also examine how postal voting may alter the composition of the electorate. We find that, while all-mail elections tend to produce higher turnout, the most significant increases occur in low stimulus elections, such as local elections or primaries where turnout is usually low. The increase in turnout, however, is not uniform across demographic groups. Voting only by mail is likely to increase turnout among those who are already predisposed to vote, such as those with higher socioeconomic status. Like other administrative reforms designed to make voting easier, postal voting has the potential to increase turnout. However, the expanded pool of voters will be limited most likely to those already inclined to vote but find it inconvenient to go to the polling place. This conclusion is consistent with the growing body of research that suggests that relaxing administrative requirements is not likely to be the panacea for low turnout among the disenfranchised. Plenum Publishing Corporation, 2000 early voting nationallicence elections nationallicence Oregon nationallicence turnout nationallicence vote by mail nationallicence Karp Jeffrey Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, 1012 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands aut Banducci Susan Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, 1012 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands aut Political Behavior Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 22/3(2000-09-01), 223-239 0190-9320 22:3<223 2000 22 11109 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026662130163 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026662130163 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Karp Jeffrey Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, 1012 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Banducci Susan Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, 1012 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Political Behavior Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 22/3(2000-09-01), 223-239 0190-9320 22:3<223 2000 22 11109 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer