Doubts about ballot secrecy persist and depress voter participation in the U.S.🚫
New experiments suggest private groups can help. 🔥
- A nonpartisan nonprofit sent mail emphasizing ballot secrecy to nonvoters during the 2014 election, 🗳️ resulting in a ~1 percentage point turnout increase among recently registered voters.
- This effect is precisely estimated and robust across different state political contexts. ✅
But wait: 🔍
- The increase was not statistically significant when compared to standard voter mobilization appeals (reminder + encouragement). 🤔
This finding has important implications for understanding how campaign messaging influences elections in the U.S.🃏 and points toward future research directions. 💡
