The Resilient Voter
Stressful Polling Places and Voting Behavior
Published on 19. February 2018
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-1-4985-3352-2 (ISBN)
Description
The Resilient Voter: Stressful Polling Places and Voting Behavior provides a new perspective on the role voting barriers play, demonstrating that they not only discourage participation but also affect the quality of votes cast. Offering an interesting and unique approach to the study of voting barriers, Shauna Reilly and Stacy G. Ulbig investigate the possibility that complicated ballot language, provisional voting, and long polling place lines cause some voters to cast ballots in a manner contradictory to their preferences.
Building on arguments that stressful polling place conditions subject citizens to stress that can prevent them from casting complete ballots or even choosing to vote at all, the authors ask whether those who endure polling place frustrations and persevere to cast a ballot might become so stressed by their experience that they are unable to mark their ballots in a manner consistent with their standing policy preferences. Using a creative experimental design, the authors examine the ways in which complex ballot language, registration difficulties, and long polling place lines affect voters' stress levels, and how such anxieties translate into the willingness to cast a complete ballot and the ability to vote in a manner conforming to previously expressed preferences.
The authors demonstrate that even though most voters prove remarkably resilient in the face of some potentially stressful polling place barriers, they are not immune to all polling place conditions. Further, they illustrate that some segments of the electorate tend to be more vulnerable to polling place stressors than others and illustrate the ways in which the compound effects of multiple barriers can exert an even wider impact.
Building on arguments that stressful polling place conditions subject citizens to stress that can prevent them from casting complete ballots or even choosing to vote at all, the authors ask whether those who endure polling place frustrations and persevere to cast a ballot might become so stressed by their experience that they are unable to mark their ballots in a manner consistent with their standing policy preferences. Using a creative experimental design, the authors examine the ways in which complex ballot language, registration difficulties, and long polling place lines affect voters' stress levels, and how such anxieties translate into the willingness to cast a complete ballot and the ability to vote in a manner conforming to previously expressed preferences.
The authors demonstrate that even though most voters prove remarkably resilient in the face of some potentially stressful polling place barriers, they are not immune to all polling place conditions. Further, they illustrate that some segments of the electorate tend to be more vulnerable to polling place stressors than others and illustrate the ways in which the compound effects of multiple barriers can exert an even wider impact.
Reviews / Votes
Reilly (Northern Kentucky Univ.) and Ulbig (Sam Houston State) hypothesize that stress introduced into the voting process can have negative consequences for voters, causing some to decline to complete their ballots or to vote in ways inconsistent with their true policy preferences. Compelling introductions to each chapter pull from recent events covered in the news media and in previous research. The new contribution is data from a mock election experiment conducted at a large undergraduate university, with participants randomly assigned to having to wait to cast their ballots or being challenged at the polling place and directed to complete a provisional ballot. Prior to voting, participants completed a survey indicating their preferences on various issues; those issues were then incorporated into constitutional amendment ballot items on marijuana, abortion, and same-sex marriage. The estimated effect sizes are small and rarely statistically significant. Provisional ballots and long, arbitrary, and unexplained wait times do not seem to make voters more stressed or less able to express their preferences at the polls (at least in this one experiment). Further research is needed, but if the findings hold, this is good news for those who face adversity at the polls.Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through faculty. * CHOICE * Reilly and Ulbig have produced a novel study on the impact of stressful polling place conditions on voters. They identify several areas where the voting process can be improved. -- David Kimball, University of Missouri-St. Louis Reilly and Ulbig creatively combine literature on "correct voting," election administration, and stress. They present well-crafted evidence that "polling place pandemonium" causes stress that affects a voters' ability to vote consistently with policy preference. This work advances convincing evidence that polling place problems are stressful and make it tough to vote "correctly." Reilly and Ulbig show why it is so important to improve polling place processes and provide strong research that adds to the importance of making voting as smooth as possible on Election Day. Both scholars and election administrators should absolutely read this book. -- Martha Kropf, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
30 BW Illustrations, 28 Tables
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
440 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4985-3352-2 (9781498533522)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2018
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€39.99
Available for download
Persons
Shauna Reilly is associate professor of political science at Northern Kentucky University.
Stacy Ulbig is professor of political science at Sam Houston State University.
Stacy Ulbig is professor of political science at Sam Houston State University.
Content
Chapter 1: Voting Barriers: The Obstacle Course of Electoral Participation
Chapter 2: Sweating the Vote: Polling Place Stress as a Voting Barrier
Chapter 3: Studying Polling Place Stress: An Experimental Approach
Chapter 4: Can You Read Me? Ballot Access Complexity and Voter Behavior
Chapter 5: Does a Placebo Ballot Lead to a Voting Headache? Provisional Ballots and Voter Behavior
Chapter 6: The Waiting is the Hardest Part? Polling Place Wait Times and Voter Behavior
Chapter 7: Are the Barriers Higher for Some Voters? The Conditional Effects of Polling Place Stressors
Chapter 8: Dealing with Polling Place Stressors: Conclusions and Implications
Appendix A: Subject Recruitment
Appendix B: Pre-Test Survey
Appendix C: Post-Test, Mock Election Ballot
Appendix D: Measures, Coding, and Distribution of Responses
Bibliography
Chapter 2: Sweating the Vote: Polling Place Stress as a Voting Barrier
Chapter 3: Studying Polling Place Stress: An Experimental Approach
Chapter 4: Can You Read Me? Ballot Access Complexity and Voter Behavior
Chapter 5: Does a Placebo Ballot Lead to a Voting Headache? Provisional Ballots and Voter Behavior
Chapter 6: The Waiting is the Hardest Part? Polling Place Wait Times and Voter Behavior
Chapter 7: Are the Barriers Higher for Some Voters? The Conditional Effects of Polling Place Stressors
Chapter 8: Dealing with Polling Place Stressors: Conclusions and Implications
Appendix A: Subject Recruitment
Appendix B: Pre-Test Survey
Appendix C: Post-Test, Mock Election Ballot
Appendix D: Measures, Coding, and Distribution of Responses
Bibliography