How electoral integrity affects voter turnout in democracies. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Martinez i Coma, Ferran; Trinh, Minh
• Is Part Of: Australian journal of political science. Volume 52:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 53
• Page End: 74
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Electoral integrity -- turnout -- boycott -- election protest -- election violence; Australasia -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals; 320
• DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2016.1238869
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1036-1146

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Does electoral integrity affect turnout? And if so, how? We analysed some variables that are closely related to electoral integrity – government actions, opposition actions, and the context in which the election is held – and find significant impact on turnout. We argue that higher turnout is often found in elections with higher electoral integrity. We tested our claims using data for over 700 elections covering 85 democracies for the 1950–2008 period. Results reveal that both boycott and election-related violence decrease turnout, but the effect of the former is substantially higher. We also find that, contrary to initial expectations, governments' harassment of the opposition and the occasional banning of parties actually increases turnout.