Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T01:15:43.014Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Partisan Strategy and the Adoption of Same-Day Registration in the American States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2021

Christian Caron Open the ORCID record for Christian Caron [Opens in a new window]
Christian Caron*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Political Science, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study seeks to explain state adoptions of same-day registration (SDR), with a focus on determining whether the Democratic (Republican) Party’s support of (resistance to) this impactful voting reform is driven by strategic electoral considerations. I find that states have an increased probability of enacting the reform when legislative Democrats are in the precarious position that comes with having just experienced minority status in one or both chambers. Relatedly, I demonstrate that the presence of a Republican legislature does not make adoption less likely until the size of the Black population reaches a certain threshold. In fact, provided the Black population is small enough, Republican control of the legislature encourages reform. The results offer conflicting evidence, however, that large Latino populations deter the GOP from establishing SDR. Considered together, the results cast doubt on the claim that either party’s position is informed by principle alone.

Keywords

electoral reformvoting rightsrace and politicspolitical parties
Type
Original Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 140 - 160
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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

Acharya, Avidit, Blackwell, Matthew, and Sen, Maya. 2016. “The Political Legacy of American Slavery.” Journal of Politics 78 (3): 621–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldrich, John H. 1995. Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, Paul D. 1982. “Discrete-Time Methods for the Analysis of Event Histories.” In Sociological Methodology, ed. Leinhardt, Samuel, 61–98. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Allison, Paul D. 2014. Event History and Survival Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Bedolla, Lisa Garcia. 2003. “The Foundations of Latino Voter Partisanship: Evidence from the 2000 Election.” Journal of Politics 65 (1): 31–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, Michael R., Hall, Thad E., Levin, Ines, and Stewart, Charles III. 2011. “Voter Opinions about Election Reform: Do They Support Making Voting More Convenient?” Election Law Journal 10 (2): 73–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bali, Valentina A., and Silver, Brian D.. 2006. “Politics, Race, and American State Electoral Reforms After Election 2000.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 6 (1): 21–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barreto, Matt A., Cohen-Marks, Mara, and Woods, Nathan D.. 2009. “Are All Precincts Created Equal? The Prevalence of Low-Quality Precincts in Low-Income and Minority Communities.” Political Research Quarterly 62 (3): 445–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bateman, David A. 2018. Disenfranchising Democracy: Constructing the Electorate in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berlinski, Samuel, and Dewan, Torun. 2011. “The Political Consequences of Franchise Extension: Evidence from the Second Reform Act.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 6 (3–4): 329–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, Frances Stokes, and Berry, William D.. 1990. “State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis.” American Political Science Review 84 (2): 395–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, William D., Ringquist, Evan J., Fording, Richard C., and Hanson, Russel L.. 1998. “Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American States, 1960–93.” American Journal of Political Science 42 (1): 327–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biggers, Daniel R., and Hanmer, Michael J.. 2015. “Who Makes Voting Convenient? Explaining the Adoption of Early and No-Excuse Absentee Voting in the American States.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 15 (2): 192–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biggers, Daniel R., and Hanmer, Michael. 2017. “Understanding the Adoption of Voter Identification Laws in the American States.” American Politics Research 45 (4): 560–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, Merle. 2004. “The Transformation of the Southern Democratic Party.” Journal of Politics 66 (4): 1001–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, Daniel C., and Greene, Zachary. 2014. “Should We Measure Professionalism with an Index? A Note on Theory and Practice in State Legislative Professionalism Research.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 14 (3): 277–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 2016. “A Partisan Model of Electoral Reform: Voter Identification Laws and Confidence in State Elections.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 16 (3): 340–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., and Jones, Bradford S.. 2004. Event History Modeling: A Guide for Social Scientists. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brians, Craig Leonard, and Grofman, Bernard. 1999. “When Registration Barriers Fall, Who Votes? An Empirical Test of a Rational Choice Model.” Public Choice 99 (1–2): 161–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brians, Craig Leonard, and Grofman, Bernard. 2001. “Election Day Registration’s Effect on U.S. Voter Turnout.” Social Science Quarterly 82 (1): 170–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burden, Barry C., Canon, David T., Mayer, Kenneth R., and Moynihan, Donald P.. 2014. “Election Laws, Mobilization, and Turnout: The Unanticipated Consequences of Election Reform.” American Journal of Political Science 58 (1): 95–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burden, Barry C., Canon, David T., Mayer, Kenneth R., and Moynihan, Donald P.. 2017. “The Complicated Partisan Effects of State Election Laws.” Political Research Quarterly 70 (3): 564–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burden, Barry C., and Neiheisel, Jacob R.. 2013. “Election Administration and the Pure Effect of Voter Registration on Turnout.” Political Research Quarterly 66 (1): 77–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burkhart, Ross E., and Lewis-Beck, Michael S.. 1994. “Comparative Democracy: The Economic Development Thesis.” American Political Science Review 88 (4): 903–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caron, Christian. 2021a. “Replication Data for: Partisan Strategy and the Adoption of Same-Day Registration in the American States.” UNC Dataverse. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.15139/S3/EW9BBO.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caron, Christian. 2021b. “Public Opinion and Death Penalty Policy Under Direct Democracy Institutions: A Longitudinal Analysis of the American States.” American Politics Research 49 (1): 91–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeNardo, James. 1980. “Turnout and the Vote: The Joke’s on the Democrats.” American Political Science Review 74(2): 406–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeSipio, Louis. 1996. Counting on the Latino Vote: Latinos as a New Electorate. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Duxbury, Scott W. 2021. “Who Controls Criminal Law? Racial Threat and the Adoption of State Sentencing Law, 1975 to 2012.” American Sociological Review 86 (1): 123–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, Robert S., Wright, Gerald C., and McIver, John P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fenster, Mark J. 1994. “The Impact of Allowing Day of Registration Voting on Turnout in U.S. Elections from 1960 to 1992.” American Politics Quarterly 22 (1): 74–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraga, Bernard L. 2018. The Turnout Gap: Race, Ethnicity, and Political Inequality in a Diversifying America. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francia, Peter L., and Herrnson, Paul S.. 2004. “The Synergistic Effect of Campaign Effort and Election Reform on Voter Turnout in State Legislative Elections.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4 (1): 74–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gronke, Paul, Galanes-Rosenbaum, Eva, and Miller, Peter A.. 2007. “Early Voting and Turnout.” PS: Political Science and Politics 40 (4): 639–45.Google Scholar
Grumbach, Jacob M., and Hill, Charlotte. Forthcoming. “Rock the Registration: Same Day Registration Increases Turnout of Young Voters.” Journal of Politics.Google Scholar
Hajnal, Zoltan, Kuk, John, and Lajevardi, Nazita. 2018. “We All Agree: Strict Voter ID Laws Disproportionately Burden Minorities.” Journal of Politics 80 (3): 1052–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanmer, Michael J. 2009. Discount Voting: Voter Registration Reforms and their Effects. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, William D., McKee, Seth C., Sellers, Mitchell D., and Smith, Daniel A.. 2015. “A Principle or a Strategy? Voter Identification Laws and Partisan Competition in the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 68 (1): 18–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, William D., McKee, Seth C., and Smith, Daniel A.. 2016a. “A Bipartisan Election Reform? Explaining Support for Online Voter Registration in the American States.” American Politics Research 44 (6): 1008–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, William D., McKee, Seth C., and Smith, Daniel A.. 2016b. “The Determinants of State Legislator Support for Restrictive Voter ID Laws.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 16 (4): 411–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Highton, Benjamin. 2017. “Voter Identification Laws and Turnout in the United States.” Annual Review of Political Science 20: 149–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinchliffe, Kelsey L., and Lee, Frances. 2016. “Party Competition and Conflict in State Legislatures.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 16 (2): 172–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, M.V., and Bullock, Charles S. 2012. “Much Ado About Nothing? An Empirical Assessment of the Georgia Voter Identification Statute.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 12 (4): 394–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Key, V.O. Jr. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Junghack, McDonald, Bruce D. III and Lee, Jooho. 2018. “The Nexus of State and Local Capacity in Vertical Policy Diffusion.” American Review of Public Administration 48 (2): 188–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Henry A., and Phillips, Justin H.. 2009. “Dividing the Spoils of Power: How are the Benefits of Majority Party Status Distributed in U.S. State Legislatures?” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 9 (2): 125–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitali, Angela E., Kidando, Emmanuel, Sando, Thobias, Moses, Ren, and Ozguven, Eren Erman. 2017. “Evaluating Aging Pedestrian Crash Severity with Bayesian Complementary Log-Log Model for Improved Prediction Accuracy.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2659 (1): 155–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klarner, Carl. 2003. “The Measurement of the Partisan Balance of State Government.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 3 (3): 309–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knack, Stephen. 2001. “Election-Day Registration: The Second Wave.” American Politics Research 29 (1): 65–78.Google Scholar
Knack, Stephen, and White, James. 2000. “Election-Day Registration and Turnout Inequality.” Political Behavior 22 (1): 29–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kousser, J. Morgan. 1974. The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880–1910. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kousser, Thad. 2005. Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kousser, Thad, and Phillips, Justin H.. 2012. The Power of American Governors. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreitzer, Rebecca J. 2015. “Politics and Morality in State Abortion Policy.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 15 (1): 41–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larocca, Roger, and Klemanski, John S.. 2011. “U.S. State Election Reform and Turnout in Presidential Elections.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 11 (1): 75–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Frances. 2009. Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U. S. Senate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighley, Jan E., and Nagler, Jonathan. 1992. “Socioeconomic Class Bias in Turnout, 1964–1988: The Voters Remain the Same.” American Political Science Review 86 (3): 725–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallinson, Daniel J. 2021. “Who Are Your Neighbors? The Role of Ideology and Decline of Geographic Proximity in the Diffusion of Policy Innovations.” Policy Studies Journal 49 (1): 67–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, Devin. 2019. “Partisanship vs. Principle: Understanding Public Opinion on Same-Day Registration.” Public Opinion Quarterly 83 (3): 568–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConnell, Mitch. 2019. “Behold the Democrat Politician Protection Act.” Washington Post, January 17.Google Scholar
McKee, Seth C. 2015. “Politics is Local: State Legislator Voting on Restrictive Voter Identification Legislation.” Research and Politics 2 (3): 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, Melinda. 2011. Introducing Survival and Event History Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minnite, Lorraine C. 2011. The Myth of Voter Fraud. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohr, Lawrence B. 1969. “Determinants of Innovation in Organizations.” American Political Science Review 63 (1): 111–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neiheisel, Jacob R., and Burden, Barry C.. 2012. “The Impact of Election Day Registration on Voter Turnout and Election Outcomes.” American Politics Research 40 (4): 636–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nuno, Stephen A. 2007. “Latino Mobilization and Vote Choice in the 2000 Presidential Election.” American Politics Research 35 (2): 273–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettigrew, Stephen. 2017. “The Racial Gap in Wait Times: Why Minority Precincts Are Underserved by Local Election Officials.” Political Research Quarterly 132 (3): 527–47.Google Scholar
Piven, Frances Fox, and Cloward, Richard A.. 1988. Why Americans Don’t Vote. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
Polgar, Paul J. 2018. “‘Whenever They Judge It Expedient’: The Politics of Partisanship and Free Black Voting Rights in Early National New York.” American Nineteenth Century History 12 (1): 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, G. Bingham. 1986. “American Voter Turnout in Comparative Perspective.” American Political Science Review 80 (1): 17–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preuhs, Robert R. 2001. “State Felon Disenfranchisement Policy.” Social Science Quarterly 82 (4): 733–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigby, Elizabeth, and Springer, Melanie J.. 2011. “Does Electoral Reform Increase (or Decrease) Political Equality?” Political Research Quarterly 64 (2): 420–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocha, Rene R., and Matsubayashi, Tetsuya. 2014. “The Politics of Race and Voter ID Laws in the States: The Return of Jim Crow?” Political Research Quarterly 67 (3): 666–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattschneider, E.E. 1942. Party Government: American Government in Action. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.Google Scholar
Schickler, Eric. 2016. Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932–1965. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shaw, Daron, and Petrocik, John. 2020. The Turnout Myth: Voting Rates and Partisan Outcomes in National Elections. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sides, John, Tesler, Michael, and Vavreck, Lynn. 2017. “The 2016 Election: How Trump Lost and Won.” Journal of Democracy 28 (2): 34–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skelley, Geoffrey. 2021. “How the Republican Push to Restrict Voting Could Affect Our Elections.” FiveThirtyEight, May 17. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-the-republican-push-to-restrict-voting-could-affect-our-elections/.Google Scholar
Smith, Jacob F. H. 2021. Minority Party Misery: Powerlessness and Disengagement from Electoral Politics. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Daniel A., and Fridkin, Dustin. 2008. “Delegating Direct Democracy: Interparty Legislative Competition and the Adoption of the Initiative in the American States.” American Political Science Review 102 (3): 333–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 1992. “Legislative Professionalization and Membership Diversity in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17 (1): 69–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teele, Dawn Langan. 2018. “How the West was Won: Competition, Mobilization, and Women’s Enfranchisement.” Journal of Politics 80 (2): 442–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traut, Carol Ann, and Emmert, Craig F.. 2003. “Death Penalty Exemptions for Juveniles: An Event History Analysis of State Policy Adoption.” Politics and Policy 31 (2): 296–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vittinghoff, Eric, and McCulloch, Charles E.. 2007. “Relaxing the Rule of Ten Events per Variable in Logistic or Cox Regression.” American Journal of Epidemiology 165 (6): 710–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, Jack L. 1969. “The Diffusion of Innovations Among the American States.” American Political Science Review 63 (3): 880–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitaker, Eric A., Herian, Mitchel N., Larimer, Christopher W., and Lang, Michael. 2012. “The Determinants of Policy Introduction and Bill Adoption: Examining Minimum Wage Increases in the American States, 1997-2006.” Policy Studies Journal 40(4): 626–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Ismail K., and Laird, Chryl N.. 2020. Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Wolfinger, Raymond E., and Rosenstone, Steven J.. 1980. Who Votes? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Yates, Jeff, and Fording, Richard. 2005. “Politics and State Punitiveness in Black and White.” Journal of Politics 67 (4): 1099–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Caron Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.15139/S3/EW9BBO
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Caron supplementary material

Appendices

Download Caron supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 177.1 KB