Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T16:25:44.371Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Electronic Voting and Perceptions of Election Fraud and Fairness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2015

Emily Beaulieu
Emily Beaulieu*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky, 1615 Patterson Office Tower, Lexington, KY 40506, USA; e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper contributes to a growing body of research on voting technology and voter confidence, which generally concludes that voters are less confident in technology—particularly in developed democracies. Using a unique survey experiment, this paper demonstrates that far fewer individuals are concerned about election fraud involving electronic voting, compared with other potential forms of election fraud such as registering ineligible voters or voter suppression. Other interesting findings emerge from the data: Older individuals are more concerned about fraud with electronic voting but the effects of age appear to be conditioned on political polarization. This paper advances our understanding of the impact of voting technology on electoral confidence, and raises important substantive and methodological questions about priming.

Keywords

Survey experimentvoter confidenceelectronic votinge-votingelectionselection fraudpriming
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Experimental Political Science , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Spring 2016 , pp. 18 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © The Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abramowitz, Alan I., and Saunders, Kyle L.. 2008. “Is Polarization and Myth?” The Journal of Politics 70 (2): 542–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, Goodrich, Melanie, Hall, Thad E., Kiewiet, D. Roderick, Sled, Sarah M.. 2004. “The Complexity of the California Recall Election.” PS: Political Science and Politics 37 (1): 23–6.Google Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Hall, Thad. 2008. Electronic Elections: The Perils and Promises of Digital Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, Hall, Thad, and Llewellyn, Morgan. 2008. “Are Americans Confident their Ballots are Counted?” Journal of Politics 70 (3): 754–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, Katz, Gabriel, Llamosa, Ricardo, and Martinzez, Hugo E.. 2009. “Assessing Voters’ Attitudes towards Electronic Voting in Latin America: Evidence from Colombia's 2007 E-voting Pilot.” E-Voting and Identity: Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5767: 75–91.Google Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, Levin, Ines, Pomares, Julia, and Leiras, Marcelo. 2013. “Voting Made Safe and Easy: The Impact of E-voting on Citizen Perceptions.” Political Science Research and Methods 1 (1): 117–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Persily, Nathanial. 2008. “Vote Fraud in the Eye of the Beholder: The Role of Public Opinion in the Challenge to Voter Identification Requirements.” Harvard Law Review 121: 1737–74.Google Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Stewart III, Charles. 2005. “Residual Votes Attributable to Technology.” Journal of Politics 67 (2): 365–89.Google Scholar
Atkeson, Lonna Rae, and Saunders, Kyle L.. 2007. “The Effect of Election Administration on Voter Confidence: A Local Matter?” PS: Political Science and Politics 40 (4): 655–60.Google Scholar
Barnes, Tiffany, and Beaulieu, Emily. 2014. “Gender Stereotypes and Corruption: How Candidates Affect Perceptions of Election Fraud.” Politics and Gender 10 (3): 365–91.Google Scholar
Beaulieu, Emily. 2014. “From Voter ID to Party ID: How Political Parties Affect Perceptions of Election Fraud in the US.” Electoral Studies 35: 24–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, Charles S., Hood, M. V., and Clark, Richard. 2005. “Punch Cards, Jim Crow, and Al Gore: Explaining Voter Trust in the Electoral System in Georgia, 2000.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 5 (3): 283–94.Google Scholar
Card, David, and Moretti, Enrico. 2007. “Does Voting Technology Affect Election Outcomes? Touch-Screen Voting and the 2004 Presidential Election.” Review of Economics and Statistics 89: 660–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claassen, Ryan L., Magleby, David B., Monson, J. Quin, and Patterson, Kelly D.. 2013. “Voter Confidence and the Election-Day Voting Experience.” Political Behavior 35: 215–35.Google Scholar
Drier, Peter, and Martin, Christopher R.. 2010. “How ACORN Was Framed: Political Controversy and Media Agenda Setting.” Perspectives on Politics 8 (3): 761–92.Google Scholar
Dunning, Thad. 2012. Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences: A Design-Based Approach. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Garland, Ron. 1991. “The Mid-Point on a Rating Scale: Is it Desirable?” Marketing Bulletin 2: 66–70.Google Scholar
Gerber, Alan S., Huber, Gregory A., Doherty, David, Dowling, Conor M., and Ha, Shang E.. 2010. “Personality and Political Attitudes: Relationships Across Issue Domains and Political Contexts.” American Political Science Review 104 (1): 111–33.Google Scholar
Gerber, Alan S., Huber, Gregory A., Doherty, David, Dowling, Conor M., and Hill, Seth J.. 2013. “Do Perceptions of Ballot Secrecy Influence Turnout? Results from a Field Experiment.” American Journal of Political Science 57 (3): 537–51.Google Scholar
Gronke, Paul. 2013. “Are We Confident in Voter Confidence? Observations on Perceptual Measures of Election Integrity.” Paper Prepared for Electoral Integrity 2013 Workshop: Concepts and Indices, Harvard University, June 3–4.Google Scholar
Gronke, Paul, and Hicks, James. 2009. “Re-examining Voter Confidence as a Metric for Election Performance.” Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Hasen, Richard L. 2005. “Beyond the Margin of Litigation: Reforming U.S. Election Administration to Avoid Electoral Meltdown.” Washington and Lee Law Review 62 (3): 937–99.Google Scholar
Hasen, Richard L. 2012. The Voting Wars: From Florida 2000 to the Next Election Meltdown. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Purcell, Helen, Recorder, Maricopa County, et al. v. Gonzalez, Maria M., et al. 2006. 549 U.S. 1.Google Scholar
Herrnson, Paul S., Niemi, Richard G., Hanmer, Michael J., Francia, Peter L., Bederson, Benjamin B., Conrad, Frederick. G., and Traugott, Michael W.. 2008. “Voters’ Evaluations of Electronic Voting Systems: Results from a Usability Field Study.” American Politics Research 36 (4): 580–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herron, Michael C, and Wand, Jonathan. 2007. “Assessing Partisan Bias in Voting Technology: The Case of the 2004 New Hampshire Recount.” Electoral Studies 26: 247–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2010. “Perception, Memory, and Partisan Polarization on the Iraq War.” Political Science Quarterly 125 (1): 31–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judis, John B. 2001. “Punch Drunk.” The American Prospect 12 (5): 12–26.Google Scholar
Katz, Gabriel, Alvarez, R. Michael, Calvo, Ernesto, Escolar, Marcelo, and Pomares, Julia. 2011. “Assessing the Impact of Alternative Voting Technologies on Multi-Party Elections: Design Features, Heuristic Processing, and Voter Choice.” Political Behavior 33: 247–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellstedt, Paul M., Zahran, Sammy, and Vedlitz, Arnold. 2006. “Personal Efficacy, the Information Environment, and Attitudes Toward Global Warming and Climate Change in the United States.” Risk Analysis 28 (1): 113–26.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey C., Carsey, Thomas M., Green, John C., Herrera, Richard, and Cooperman, Roslyn. 2010. “Activists and Conflict Extension in American Party Politics.” The American Political Science Review 104 (2): 324–46.Google Scholar
McCright, Aaron M., and Dunlap, Riley E.. 2011. “The Politicization of Climate Change and Polarization in the American Public's Views of Global Warming, 2001–2010.” The Sociological Quarterly 52 (2): 155–94.Google Scholar
Murphy, Chad, Johnson, Martin, and Bowler, Shaun. 2007. “Partisan Bias in Evaluating U.S. Elections during the HAVA Decade: A Natural Experiment.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Las Vegas, NV.Google Scholar
Quirk, Paul J. 2011. “A House Dividing: Understanding Polarization.” The Forum 9 (2): Article 12.Google Scholar
Sances, Michael, and Stewart III, Charles. 2012. “Partisanship and Voter Confidence, 2000–2010.” Working Paper No. 2012–12, Political Science Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Schwartz, John. 2003. “Computer Voting is Open to Easy Fraud, Experts Say.” New York Times, July 24.Google Scholar
Stein, Robert M., Vonnahme, Greg, Byrne, Michael, and Wallach, Daniel. 2008. “Voting Technology, Election Administration, and Voter Performance.” Election Law Journal 7 (2): 123–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The American National Election Studies . The Anes Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan (producer and distributor). Available at: www.electionstudies.org.Google Scholar
Tokaji, Daniel P. 2007. “Leave It to the Lower Courts: On Judicial Intervention in Election Administration.” Ohio Law Journal 68: 1065–95.Google Scholar
Wagner, D. D. Jefferson, and Bishop, M.. 2006. Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuBasic Interpreter. Berkeley, CA: University of California.Google Scholar
Worcester, R. M., and Burns, T. R.. 1975. “A Statistical Examination of the Relative Precision of Verbal Scales.” Journal of Market Research Society 17 (3): 181–97.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Beaulieu supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Beaulieu supplementary material(File)
File 760.4 KB