A Dynamic Cost of Voting Index: How Do State Election Administration Rules Impact Voter Turnout and the Integrity of Elections?

Matteo Ferroni and Jeffrey Milyo
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Matteo Ferroni: Department of Economics, University of Missouri, https://www.matteo-ferroni.com/

No 2516, Working Papers from Department of Economics, University of Missouri

Abstract: Several recent studies examine the ease of voting across states using a "cost of voting index" (COVI) based on state election administration laws in a given election year (e.g., Pomante II et al., 2023). However, the original COVI is based on different sets of state laws across elections and normalized to have a mean of zero in each election. Consequently, the original COVI does not afford straightforward and meaningful comparisons of changes in the cost of voting over time. We gently revise the original COVI to generate a time-consistent "dynamic cost of voting index" (DCOVI) that is better suited to comparing within state changes in the cost of voting over time. We demonstrate that DCOVI is more strongly associated with state-level voter turnout than COVI, as well as a signi cant determinant of self-reported individual-level turnout and several measures of perceived frequency of illegal voting (albeit not perceived errors in vote counting). In general, higher costs of voting within a state are associated with lower voter turnout and improved public perceptions of the integrity of elections, although all of these e ects are modest.

Keywords: Elections; Election Law; Election Reform; Election Administration; Voter Turnout; Cost of Voting; Integrity of Elections; Vote Fraud. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 D72 H11 K16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
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