The Relationship between In-Person Voting and COVID-19: Evidence from the Wisconsin Primary

Chad Cotti, Bryan Engelhardt, Joshua Foster, Erik Nesson and Paul S. Niekamp

No 27187, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: On April 7, 2020, Wisconsin held its presidential primary election, and news reports showed long lines of voters due to fewer polling locations. We use county-level variation in voting patterns and weekly county-level COVID test data to examine whether in-person voting increased COVID-19 cases. We find a statistically significant association between in-person voting density and the spread of COVID-19 two to three weeks after the election. In our main results, a 10% increase in in-person voters per polling location is associated with an 18.4% increase in the COVID-19 positive test rate two to three weeks later.

JEL-codes: D72 H75 I1 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
Note: EH PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Published as Chad Cotti & Bryan Engelhardt & Joshua Foster & Erik Nesson & Paul Niekamp, 2021. "The relationship between voting and ‐19: Evidence from the Wisconsin primary," Contemporary Economic Policy, vol 39(4), pages 760-777.

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Journal Article: The relationship between in‐person voting and COVID‐19: Evidence from the Wisconsin primary (2021)
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