Voter Turnout Research Articles

ВЛИЯНИЕ ДЭГ НА ЯВКУ ИЗБИРАТЕЛЕЙ НА ВЫБОРАХ В РОССИИ В 2021–2023 ГГ.

Remote electronic voting, also known as i-voting, transforms elections in Russia and worldwide, opening up new opportunities for the state and society to move from agent-object to subject-to-subject relations. However, the impact of i-voting on political processes, especially at the regional level, is yet to be studied by social sciences. The author analyzed the effect of remote electronic voting on voter turnout at the federal and regional elections in Russia in 2021–2023 and compared them with the turnout that involved traditional means of voting. The cross-regional and cross-temporal analysis of electoral statistics partially proved that remote electronic voting as an additional voting channel increased voter turnout at the federal level. The Russian electronic voting network appeared to be an efficient state operator in 2021–2023. However, the increase in voter turnout was lower in the regions. If subjected to strict public control, remote electronic voting can justifiably considered as an effective form of conventional political participation.

Democratic literacy: Challenges and opportunities to engage youth participatory in the age of digital media

This study endeavors to ascertain the challenges and opportunities in democracy literacy to foster active youth engagement in the digital media age. Through the implementation of Focus Group Discussions and participatory workshops involving a cohort of 17 participants, comprising eight student journalists and nine non-student journalists, who are poised to exercise their voting rights for the first time during the forthcoming 2024 elections, the research outcomes divulge that disparities exist in the democratic perspectives of student and non-student journalists, primarily due to their contrasting experiences. Nevertheless, both groups concur that a solid understanding of democratic principles empowers them to partake in the democratic process. In the digital media era context, four notable challenges emerge in democratic literacy: hoax oasis, politician stigmatization, idiot discussion engagement, and political apathy engagement. Conversely, two prospective avenues for bolstering democratic literacy are identified: information oasis and reigniting youth participation. These identified challenges and opportunities serve as fundamental pillars for formulating effective democratic literacy strategies in the digital era, thereby fostering increased participation of young voters in democratic practices.

Policy feedback and voter turnout: Evidence from the Finnish basic income experiment

Policy feedback and voter turnout: Evidence from the Finnish basic income experiment

Meningkatkan Kesadaran Partisipasi Generasi Z dan Pemahaman Pemilu yang Berasaskan Luber Jurdil di Kelurahan Sanur

Elections in Indonesia are an integral part of the democratic system, ensuring people's participation and asserting their sovereignty. The 2024 election is of particular concern due to a significant increase in the participation of first-time voters, especially Generation Z. Although their participation rates are increasing, there is also a group of non-voters who abstain from exercising their right to vote. The importance of understanding the principles of Luber Jurdil in elections, as mandated by the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, needs to be emphasized to create democratic elections. The main problem formulation includes efforts to increase the participation of Generation Z and understanding the principles of Luber Jurdil in Banjar Sindu Kaja. The purpose of this activity is to understand efforts that can be made to increase the participation of Generation Z in elections and their understanding of Luber Jurdil in Banjar Sindu Kaja, Sanur Subdistrict. Socialization activities at the Sekaa Teruna Teruni Sindu Putra in Banjar Sindu Kaja, Sanur Subdistrict aim to increase the participation of Generation Z in the 2024 elections and strengthen their understanding of the principles of Luber Jurdil. It is hoped that through this socialization, Generation Z can become more aware of their role in the political process and be able to vote wisely and responsibly.

Survey On Secure E-Voting Platform

E-voting systems are increasingly being explored with the aim of taking over from traditional paper-based voting and may offer several advantages, including efficiency, accessibility, and cost-cutting. These systems include DRE machines, internet-based voting, to even blockchain-enabled voting solutions. However, this shift toward e-voting is attended by a raft of significant hurdles on security, secrecy in voting, dependability of the systems, and scalability. This survey paper covers the current status of e-voting systems and related work and literature regarding the design, implementation, and evaluation. These topics will range from security vulnerabilities regarding DRE and Internet voting to privacy and anonymity concerns with respect to maintaining confidentiality of voters, accessibility and usability of e-voting platforms for the diverse voter population, and the increasingly emerging blockchain technology that provides secure and transparent processes toward voting. The survey underlines important gaps in present research and points to a number of future directions that might help in building up integrity, transparency, and trustworthiness in e-voting systems. In overcoming the challenges lying ahead, e-voting has the potential to significantly improve democratic processes and enhance voter participation. INDEX TERMS : Online Voting , Secure Voting Platform, Voter Authentication, OTP Verification, SMS Gateway, Encryption, Web Application Development, Voting Results , Election Management System

E-Voting in India: A Secure, Transparent, and Cost-Efficient Future Through Blockchain and Aadhaar Integration

This paper explores the potential for e-voting in India, focusing on the challenges of the current electoral system and how the integration of blockchain technology and Aadhaar can provide secure, transparent, and cost-efficient solutions. Drawing on global examples from countries like Estonia, Switzerland, and Brazil, the paper presents a case for India’s transition to e-voting, supported by data analysis of costs, voter turnout, environmental impact, and security concerns. It also proposes an implementation strategy, including cybersecurity measures, pilot programs, and legislative reforms required to bring e-voting to life in India.

Local Democracy in America: How Access, Competition, and Place Shape Turnout in Mayoral Races

The vast majority of the roughly half-million elected officials in the U.S. occupy local offices, however, research examining how they get elected to remains scant. The present study examines turnout in local elections, focusing on the effects of electoral rules, the competitiveness of local races, and whether and how place matters. Based on a sample of roughly 10,000 mayoral elections, this study represents the most systematic empirical analysis of local turnout to date. While we find substantial differences in turnout across rural towns, suburbs, and central cities, these differences are largely explained by electoral and contextual factors that are unevenly distributed across the local landscape. Though election timing is far and away the most important factor, uncontested mayoral races, local elections in states with restrictive voting laws as well as those mid-sized municipalities are associated with significantly lower turnout.

Innovation in Political Communication Strategy: A Qualitative Approach in Examining the Influence of Campaign Messages

This research investigates innovations in political communication strategies through a qualitative approach, focusing on the influence of campaign messages in the context of general elections in Indonesia. Through content analysis of campaign messages, this research identifies the main themes, framing strategies, and rhetoric used to influence voter perceptions. The findings of this research have practical implications for designing more effective campaign strategies, increasing more informed voter participation, and contributing new thinking to political literature and political marketing in Indonesia.

Why is voter turnout in presidential elections increasing among people concerned about the risk of COVID‐19 worsening in Africa?

AbstractThis article aims to explain why participation in presidential elections increased among people who feared the risk of worsening COVID‐19 in Africa. The analysis is based on a sample of 16,890 people living in 34 African countries. Econometric results suggest that fear of the pandemic's escalation can reduce citizens' willingness to participate in presidential elections. However, this negative effect changes based on perceptions of government management of the pandemic. We show that the likelihood of voting in a presidential election increases significantly among those afraid of the pandemic's worsening with (i) a lack of confidence in government statistics on COVID‐19; (ii) perceived corruption related to the COVID‐19 pandemic; (iii) a lack of confidence in the government's ability to ensure the safety of COVID‐19 vaccines; (iv) perceived insufficient public investment in combating health emergencies; and (v) perceived insufficient intervention by law enforcement in enforcing COVID‐19 control measures.Related ArticlesOnyango, Gedion, and Japheth Otieno Ondiek. 2022. “Open Innovation during the COVID‐19 Pandemic Policy Responses in South Africa and Kenya.” Politics & Policy 50(5): 1008–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12490.Stockemer, Daniel. 2016. “Is the Turnout Function in Democracies and Nondemocracies Alike or Different?” Politics & Policy 44(5): 889–915. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12174.Stockemer, Daniel, and Stephanie Parent. 2014. “The Inequality Turnout Nexus—New Evidence from Presidential Elections.” Politics & Policy 42(2): 221–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12067.

Loneliness in times of global polycrises

Global polycrises comprise the synchronous or consecutive occurrence of various crises, with no intervening phases of stability, e.g., coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, inflation, war and climate crisis. This poses challenges for both society as awhole and its individual members. Polycrises are associated with enormous psychological stress, especially for vulnerable groups. Polycrises also impair social interaction, which can trigger or intensify subjectively stressful loneliness. The aim of this narrative review is to show how loneliness affects social behavior in times of global polycrises and what the consequences are. Loneliness is associated with both mental and physical morbidity and mortality as well as being asignificant barrier to recovery. Studies have shown that there is amutual detrimental influence between mental illness and loneliness. The social behavior of chronically lonely people is characterized by anegative cognitive bias, hypervigilance in the social context and adysregulated oxytocin system. Furthermore, the quality and quantity of these relationships are significantly impaired. The social consequences of loneliness are, for example, adecrease in social engagement and low voting participation. The phenomenon of loneliness clearly shows that crises can exacerbate latent problems and bring them to the surface; however, crises should also be seen as an opportunity to openly and constructively address shame-laden topics such as loneliness in public discourse and in psychotherapeutic settings.

Kosningar, lýðræði og fatlað fólk

Kosningaréttur er grundvallarréttur þegna í lýðræðisríkjum og þátttaka í kosningum álitin ein af mikilvægustu athöfnum borgaranna. Þó að þessi réttindi skuli tryggð öllum þegnum sýna alþjóðlegar rannsóknir að fatlað fólk er víða útilokað frá þátttöku í kosningum. Fatlað fólk er síður líklegt til að kjósa en ófatlað fólk og mætir iðulega ýmsum hindrunum ef það reynir að taka þátt í kosningum. Þessi grein fjallar um kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks með hliðsjón af niðurstöðum alþjóðlegra rannsókna. Í upphafi eru raktar helstu hindranir í vegi kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks og leitast við að svara hvaða áhrif þessar hindranir hafi, ekki aðeins fyrir fatlaða borgara, heldur jafnframt hvað það þýði fyrir heilbrigði lýðræðis og lýðræðislegra stofnana þegar hluti þegnanna mætir alvarlegum hindrunum varðandi borgaraleg grundvallarréttindi. Íslenskar rannsóknir á þessu sviði eru ekki fyrir hendi og engin skipuleg tölfræðileg gögn eru til varðandi þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í kosningum eða stjórnmálum hér á landi. Byggt á gögnum sem aflað var hjá tveimur fjölmennustu heildarsamtökum fatlaðs fólks hér á landi er rýnt í reynslu, aðstæður og möguleika fatlaðs fólks til þátttöku í kosningum á Íslandi, lagasetningar þar að lútandi og skyldur ríkisins til að stuðla að og tryggja þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í stjórnmálum og opinberu lífi, ekki síst í ljósi þess að Samningur Sameinuðu þjóðanna (SÞ) um réttindi fatlaðs fólks (SRFF) hefur verið fullgiltur hér á landi.

Flexible representative democracy

AbstractWe introduce Flexible Representative Democracy (FRD), a novel hybrid of Representative Democracy and Direct Democracy in which voters can alter the issue-dependent weights of a set of elected representatives. In line with the literature on Interactive Democracy, our model allows the voters to actively determine the degree to which the system is direct versus representative. However, unlike Liquid Democracy, Flexible Representative Democracy uses strictly non-transitive delegations, making delegation cycles impossible, and maintains a fixed set of accountable, elected representatives. We present Flexible Representative Democracy and analyze it using a computational approach with issues that are binary and symmetric. We compare the outcomes of various voting systems using Direct Democracy with majority voting as an ideal baseline. First, we demonstrate the shortcomings of Representative Democracy in our model. We provide NP-Hardness results for electing an ideal set of representatives, discuss pathologies, and demonstrate empirically that common multi-winner election rules for selecting representatives do not perform well in expectation. To analyze the effects of adding delegation to representative voting systems, we begin by providing theoretical results on how issue-specific delegations determine outcomes. Finally, we provide empirical results comparing the outcomes of various voting systems: Representative Democracy, Proxy Voting, and FRD with issue-specific delegations. Our results show that variants of Proxy Voting yield no discernible benefit over unweighted representatives and reveal the potential for Flexible Representative Democracy to improve outcomes as voter participation increases.

Economic insecurity in the 2022 Italian general election: mobilization or withdrawal?

A right-wing coalition led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) emerged as the clear winner of the 2022 Italian general election, with voter turnout reaching its lowest level in the history of the Italian Republic. This result unfolded amidst a long-standing sense of economic stagnation, escalating inequality, and rising inflation. The article explores the relationship between individual economic insecurity and the 2022 election results. There is an assumption in both public and scholarly discourse that economic insecurity is responsible for the rise of populist and, particularly, populist radical-right (PRR) parties. Does the 2022 Italian general election represent a case of mobilization or withdrawal of the economically insecure electorate? Building on the literature on populist success and the economy’s effects on political behavior, we find that economic insecurity was not behind the success of the PRR parties (the League and FdI) in the 2022 election. It was also not associated with the vote for the main populist non-radical-right party in the Italian political landscape: the 5-Star Movement. On the contrary, in this election, economic insecurity mostly deterred voters from casting their ballots, and the success of the PRR can mostly be explained by anti-immigration attitudes.

Factors of Political Participation of Beginner Voters Not Using Their Voting Rights in Elections in West Java

This study aims to examine the factors that influence the political participation of novice voters not using their voting rights in elections in West Java. The method used in this research is to use a qualitative approach, namely the descriptive method. This research will provide an opportunity for subjects (first-time voters) to answer the questions asked according to their own experiences, and not based on the benchmark answers that have been made by researchers. This means that first-time voters behave and act in such a way as to feel free to use their knowledge and experience of the topics offered. The conclusion of this research is that there are several factors that encourage students of Langlangbuana University to use their voting rights during elections. Some of the factors found are factors of political stimulation, in order to realize the importance of using voting rights. Then the second factor is the factor of the characteristics of the person, because those with a social character who have great social concern for social, political, economic, socio-cultural, and defense problems, usually want to be involved in political activities. The third is the factor of the social environment, and the last is the factor of political education that novice voters get. Most of the students of Langlangbuana University already have care and awareness about the importance of their voting rights in the election, and have desires and hopes for the people they will choose as leaders in this country.

Educating Students for Political Participation: Bringing “Voting is Social Work” to Life

ABSTRACT Elections have become the new battleground for democracy and civil rights. Yet few social work programs provide opportunities for students to gain competency in electoral politics and voter engagement. This article describes an elective course for Master of Social Work students offered in the runup to the 2018 and 2020 elections. Using classroom and community-based learning, students engaged in activities designed to maximize voter participation. Feedback derived from multiple sources speaks to student learning, feelings of accomplishment, a recognition that voting matters, and insights regarding the link between voting and social work. This course represents one model that can be replicated, in whole or in part, as social work programs seek to incorporate voting-related activities into their curricula.

Who Pays the Price for the Cost of Voting

This paper will explore the combined effect of restrictive voting policies­ as measured by the Cost of Voting Index (COVI), a measure developed by political scientists associated with States United Democracy Center and Northern Illinois University—on voter turnout in Presidential elections, paying specific attention to the impact of such policies on minority populations. It will explore the state-level relationships between the cost associated with voting policies and the voter turnout rate of racial groups in presidential elections over the period of 1996 to 2016, examining the question of how voting rights policies influence the turnout rate of minority voters in U.S. presidential elections.

Political participation and financial education: Understanding personal and collective tradeoffs for a better citizenship

The paper documents a positive association between political participation, measured by the number of citizens voting at national elections, and awareness of the tradeoffs behind both private and public decisions that indicators of basic financial education can capture. The association is robust to the inclusion of a range of controls, stronger for the most difficult concepts of risk diversification and interest compounding, and consistent with the hypothesis that in countries where financial education is higher due to national cultural traits, voter turnout at national elections is higher.

Quality of Democracy in Des Sidodadi Ramunia Through Political Participation of New Voters in the 2024 General Election

Quality of Democracy in Des Sidodadi Ramunia Through Political Participation of New Voters in the 2024 General Election

Anonymous voting using distributed ledger-assisted secure multi-party computation

High voter turnout in elections and referendums is desirable to ensure a robust democracy. Secure electronic voting is a vision for the future of elections and referendums. Such a system can counteract factors hindering strong voter turnout such as the requirement of physical presence during limited hours at polling stations. However, this vision brings transparency and confidentiality requirements that render the design of such solutions challenging. Specifically, the counting implementation must support reproducibility, and the choice of individual voters must remain confidential. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a novel referendum protocol that ensures transparency, confidentiality, and integrity, in trustless networks. The protocol is built by combining secure multi-party computation and distributed ledger technology, e.g., a Blockchain. The persistence and immutability of the protocol communication allow verifiability of the referendum outcome by any participant. Voters therefore do not need to trust third parties. We provide a formal description and conduct a thorough security evaluation of our proposal.

Exploring Youth's Knowledge, Attitudes, and Readiness Towards Implementation of Undi18 in Batang Padang District, Perak

The amendment to the Federal Constitution in 2019, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, sparked discussions on the preparedness and maturity of individuals in this age group to participate in elections. Recognizing the necessity for a comprehensive political communication strategy to effectively engage and prepare youth, a structured framework with a defined objective has been developed. This study aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and readiness among youth in the Batang Padang district regarding voting at age 18, and analyse the factors influencing their participation. Using a quantitative approach, the study employs a questionnaire as its primary instrument, gathering responses from a sample of 462 individuals aged 18 to 20 in the Batang Padang district, Perak. The findings reveal a commendable level of knowledge among youth, albeit with a moderate attitude and readiness towards voting. Furthermore, the study identifies motivating factors for youth participation in voting, including personal responsibility, political party influence, peer interactions, the impact of social media influencers, and family influence. This research aims to provide valuable insights and empirical data to stakeholders, aiding in the development of targeted strategies to engage and prepare youth for active participation in the nation's democratic processes.