Early Voting and Presidential Nominations: A New Advantage for Front‐Runners?

Abstract

Early voting has become an important feature of presidential elections. While research has generally focused on whether programs increase turnout, few have considered whether early voting alters the information environment in campaigns. Those who vote early may do so before important information becomes available in the final weeks of a campaign. I speculate that early voting should benefit early front‐runners in presidential nomination contests, as voters may cast early votes for these candidates before fully considering their less‐known opponents. Examining exit‐poll data from the 2008 Democratic primaries between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I find that Clinton indeed benefited from early voting in several early primary states.