Political Behaviour/Sociology

F11(a) - Turnout and Political Participation / Participation et engagement électoral

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Valentin Pautonnier (University de Montréal)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Semra Sevi (University of Toronto)

Explaining racialized turnout differences in Canada: Maxime Heroux-Legault (UBC-Okanagan), M.H. Mahmud (UBC-Okanagan)
Abstract: As Canada diversifies thanks to immigration, a larger proportion of its population is becoming racialized. In this context, it is important to ascertain whether there are differences in the rate of electoral participation of racialized and other voters. Furthermore, the analysis should identify which variables explain these differences to minimize turnout gaps among these groups and encourage greater participation from all Canadian voters. This research project evaluates whether there are differences in the participation levels of racialized voters and the rest of the Canadian electorate using 2021 CES data. Indeed, racialized voters are less likely to participate in Canadian elections than other voters. The analysis further investigates whether this discrepancy is explained by other variables. It finds that factors such as region, religion, income, political knowledge, political interest, civic duty, partisanship, and employment are all significantly related to the voting decision. When these other variables are included to the analysis, no differences remain in the vote of racialized voters and the rest of the electorate. This shows that differences in electoral participation can be remedied by acting on the variables that have a direct and statistically significant impact on the turnout decision. Political parties and electoral institutions can contribute to this effort by reaching out to racialized voters, which should foster greater political interest, political knowledge, partisanship, and civic duty, which in turn will increase electoral participation and reduce the participation gap.

Electoral Participation: The Impact of Youth Representation on Youth Voter Turnout: Marika Barbieri-Antonoglou (University of Ottawa), Daniel Stockemer (University of Ottawa), Remi Royer (University of Ottawa), Angelique bu (University of Ottawa), Kamila Kolodziejczyk (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: Youths today are facing an underrepresentation in parliaments worldwide of at least 1 to 3 relative to their overall proportion of the general population. This underrepresentation of youth feeds into a cycle of political youth alienation characterised by youth’s low political interest and political knowledge, as well as dwindling youth conventional political participation. How can we break this cycle? We suggest that one way to break this cycle is through increased youth candidacies in elections, which we believe should positively influence voter turnout among youth. To test our hypothesis, we use a unique data set covering roughly 80 elections in 35 countries, compiled from the Comparative Candidate Survey and the Worldwide Age Representation in Parliaments (WARP) database. Controlling for factors such as regime type, electoral system, and GDP per capita, we find support for our hypothesis; that is, increased youth candidacies are associated with higher voter turnout among young voters aged 35 or below. Keywords: Youths, parliamentary representation, political participation, voter turnout, democracy

Do Canadians vote online when it rains? Weather-related turnout decline in municipal elections, 2000-2022: Michael Wigginton (Carleton University)
Abstract: The introduction of remote internet voting in Canadian municipalities has allowed citizens of some cities and towns to vote from anywhere with an internet connection and at a time of their own choosing. While previous studies have found that online voting has only a modest and short-term effect on raising overall voter turnout, the more nuanced effects of this reform remain unclear. Does the ability to vote remotely via the internet inoculate municipal elections from the poor turnout usually associated with rain or snow on election day? In this paper, I use a dataset combining voting and weather records for over 1000 local elections in Canada to investigate the extent to which the introduction of online voting mitigates turnout decline from inclement weather. My findings serve to better understand which voters benefit from remote internet voting, and to assess the utility of this reform in increasing participation.

The Right Choice of Words: Assessing How Question Wordings Shape Civic Duty to Vote: Maxime Coulombe (University of Western Ontario), Evelyne Brie (University of Western Ontario), Fernando Feitosa (Griffith University), Carol Galais (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Abstract: Civic duty to vote is a critical factor in understanding voter turnout. However, variations in how it is measured can introduce bias and limit the comparability of findings. Using data from three survey experiments and additional election studies, we examine alternative question wordings of the "duty-choice" question (Blais 2000; Blais & Achen 2019), which asks whether individuals perceive voting as a civic duty or a personal choice. First, we test the efficacity of the face-saving strategy. Second, we introduce and evaluate an alternative wording contrasting voting as a duty or a right. Third, we test different framing, ordering, wording, and scaling variations of the question. Finally, we compare alternative specifications in constructing the duty variable. Our findings demonstrate how subtle changes can affect measurements, reveal the presence of social desirability bias in civic duty measures, and offer strategies to reduce this bias and improve our measurements.