The Effects of Election Festivals on Voter Turnout: A Field Experiment Conducted During a Presidential Election

Abstract

During the final days of the 2016 general election, Civic Nation coordinated a series of non-partisan election festivals designed to encourage voter turnout in targeted precincts across the country. Previous experimental research (Addonizio, Green, and Glaser 2007) indicates that festivals held at polling sites significantly increase voter turnout. Prior research, however, focused solely on low-salience elections, such as municipal or primary elections. The study reported here is the first to assess the effectiveness of festivals held in the context of a high-salience election. Festivals appear to increase turnout substantially and cost-effectively, but further research in high-salience elections is needed to pin down these effects with more statistical precision.

Keywords: voter turnout