To Vote or Not to Vote: The Effect of Using All-mail Election on Probability of Voting

Authors

Rehtaeh Beers, Brigham Young University
Dr. Jay Goodliffe, Brigham Young University

Keywords

all-mail election, United States, validated vote status, voter turnout

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Political Science

Abstract

All-mail elections are rare within the United States of America. Currently, only Oregon, Washington, and Colorado use mail-in ballots. Alaska will join that list during the 2018 midterm election as they adopt an all-mail ballot mode of voting¹. All-mail election ballots require no more effort than original registration; the ballot comes automatically and all one must do is complete it. Due to the increased convenience, increased turnout is expected among those voters who are already willing to register. Mail-in ballots are proven to be more cost-effective than traditional voting², allowing for the replacement of millions of dollars’ worth of ballot boxes with scanners and printers. Most importantly, however, mail-in ballots may increase voter turnout. My research examines the effect of all-mail elections on voter turnout to determine if the all-mail ballot format increases the likelihood of citizens voting.

Recommended Citation

Beers, Rehtaeh and Goodliffe, Dr. Jay (2018) "To Vote or Not to Vote: The Effect of Using All-mail Election on Probability of Voting," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2018: Iss. 1, Article 55.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2018/iss1/55