Radio PSAs Raised Native American Turnout — Effects Remain Statistically Uncertain

Why Native Turnout Is Puzzling

Native Americans vote at lower rates than other U.S. racial and ethnic groups despite showing similar socioeconomic profiles and political interest. Eline A. de Rooij and Donald P. Green investigate whether lower turnout reflects weaker exposure to statewide and national mobilization efforts, given that many Native communities are geographically dispersed and less likely to be reached by mass campaigns.

What de Rooij and Green Tested

The authors evaluate whether a nonpartisan radio public service announcement (PSA) campaign could increase turnout among Native American registered voters. The core question: can targeted radio outreach close part of the turnout gap by boosting information and reminders in areas where other mobilization is sparse?

How the Experiments Worked

• Two randomized field experiments were run in the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.
• Treatment was placement of nonpartisan radio PSAs in selected radio markets; controls were markets without the PSA campaign.
• The research covered 85 radio markets across more than a dozen U.S. states and focused on turnout among registered Native American voters.

Key Findings

• The direction of the estimated effects is consistent with increased turnout among treated Native American registrants in both 2008 and 2010.
• However, the estimated increases fall short of conventional levels of statistical significance, so the evidence is suggestive rather than definitive.

Implications and Caveats

The study provides modest encouragement that low-cost, nonpartisan radio outreach can nudge turnout in dispersed communities that receive less attention from statewide campaigns. At the same time, the lack of conventional statistical significance underscores limits on how confidently the effect can be generalized; the authors’ results point to the need for larger-scale or higher-powered replications to determine how reliably radio PSAs can raise turnout among Native American voters.