Non-voted Ballots, Voter Fatigue, and Race

Abstract:     
With the enormous controversy over the 2000 Presidential election in Florida, the focus on the non-voted ballots in Presidential races is understandable. Yet, those going to the polls fail to select a candidate in other races down the ballot at even higher rates, and the voting system used. The ward-level data presented here for Ohio elections during 1992, 1996, and 2000 demonstrate that the focus on races at the top of the ballot has been very misleading. The rush to eliminate punch card ballots actually risks increasing the number of non-votes for other offices by much more than non-votes for Presidential elections are reduced.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 38

Keywords: Non-voted ballot rates, discrimination, electronic voting, punch cards

JEL Classification: H0, J70, J78

working papers series