Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting

McDaniel, Jason A. Working Paper. “Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting”. In 2019 ESRA Conference.
See also: 2019 Papers

Abstract

Variation in electoral rules and institutions at the local level have an impact on voter turnout and representation. Ranked Choice Voting is a relatively new type of electoral system adopted in several cities throughout the U.S. Previous research focused, focused on only one or a small subset of cities, has found either no effect, or a small reduction in voter turnout under RCV. In this paper, I employ a differences-in-differences design to analyze turnout in elections in over 200 cities, ranging from the early 1990s to 2018. The results indicate a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV. In addition, I find that the negative effect of RCV varies with election timing cycle, and that it diminishes as elections become more competitive. Finally, I find that the negative RCV effect is more pronounced in open-seat elections. 

Last updated on 04/03/2024