In political science , voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot ) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of registered voters , eligible voters , or all voting-age people. According to Stanford University political scientists Adam Bonica and Michael McFaul , there is a consensus among political scientists that "democracies perform better when more people vote."
87-524: Supported by (1) Opposition (39) Faroe Islands The Landsting ( Danish : Landstinget ) was the upper house of the Rigsdag , from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished in favour of unicameralism . The Landsting had powers equal to the Folketing , which made the two houses of parliament hard to distinguish. Originally, membership and the electorate was restricted, and
174-591: A 1939 referendum that would have replaced the Landsting with another chamber—the Rigsting—and simplified the legislative process, failed due to a low voter turnout , the bicameral system and thereby the Landsting was abolished when the current constitution was approved in a 1953 referendum . Confidence and supply In parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system , confidence and supply
261-614: A complex registration or re-registration process. In the United States, for example, there is no accurate registry of exactly who is eligible to vote, since only about 70–75% of people choose to register themselves. Thus, turnout has to be calculated based on population estimates. Some political scientists have argued that these measures do not properly account for the large number of legal permanent residents (green card holders), undocumented immigrants , disenfranchised felons and persons who are considered 'mentally incompetent' in
348-779: A confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberal Party , in a deal which became known as the Lib-Lab Pact . In return, the Labour Party agreed to modest policy concessions for the Liberal Party. In the aftermath of the 2017 general election which left Theresa May 's Conservative Party without a majority, a confidence-and-supply agreement was agreed with the Democratic Unionist Party . Confidence and supply deals are more frequent in
435-506: A confidence-and-supply agreement with three independent MPs and one Green MP. Following the 2023 New South Wales state election , the Labor opposition reached 45 out of 47 seats required for a majority. Independent MLAs, Alex Greenwich , Greg Piper , and Joe McGirr entered into a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Labor government. Following the 2024 Tasmanian state election ,
522-645: A democracy is also an important factor. Elections require considerable involvement by the population, and it takes some time to develop the cultural habit of voting, and the associated understanding of and confidence in the electoral process. This factor may explain the lower turnouts in the newer democracies of Eastern Europe and Latin America. Much of the impetus to vote comes from a sense of civic duty, which takes time and certain social conditions that can take decades to develop: Demographics also have an effect. Older people tend to vote more than youths, so societies where
609-421: A difference, are more likely to make the effort to vote, and less likely to vote tactically . Compared to countries with plurality electoral systems, voter turnout improves and the population is more involved in the political process in ~70% of cases. The exceptions to the rule can include cases where a plurality system has an unusually high number of competitive districts, for example, before it transitions to
696-567: A district where one is a recent arrival, including knowing little about the local candidates and issues. It has been argued that democratic consolidation (the stabilization of new democracies) contributes to the decline in voter turnout. A 2017 study challenges this, however. Various measures have been proposed to attempt to increase voter turnout. One of these is to make election days national holidays in order to give potential voters more time and freedom to vote. This has been implemented in multiple democracies of which have higher voter turnouts than
783-409: A field experiment that exploits the rare opportunity of a tied election for major political office. Informing citizens that the special election to break the tie will be close (meaning a high P term) has little mobilizing effect on voter turnout. Riker and Ordeshook developed the modern understanding of D . They listed five major forms of gratification that people receive for voting: complying with
870-418: A government to pay its way and enact its policies. The failure of a supply bill is in effect the same as the failure of a confidence motion. In early modern England, the withholding of funds was one of Parliament 's few ways of controlling the monarch . The Australian Labor Party Gillard government formed a minority government in the hung parliament elected at the 2010 federal election resulting from
957-564: A gradual decrease in voter turnout globally when looking at the voting-age population. However, a 2001 article in the American Political Science Review , Michael McDonald and Samuel Popkin argued, that at least in the United States, voter turnout since 1972 has not actually declined when calculated for those eligible to vote, what they term the voting-eligible population. In 1972, noncitizens and ineligible felons (depending on state law) constituted about 2% of
SECTION 10
#17327727377351044-542: A large number of eligible but unregistered citizens creating inflated turnout figures. For some time, the Gallup Organization has utilized a metric of polls to determine who would vote. These polls would look at "intention to vote, registration status, reported frequency of past voting, awareness of where to vote, interest in politics in general, interest in the particular election, and intensity of candidate preference." Since around 1985, there appears to be
1131-509: A loss of community, which in turn has weakened participation in civic life. At the same time, some forms of participation have increased. People have become far more likely to participate in boycotts , demonstrations , and to donate to political campaigns. Many causes have been proposed for what some see as a decline in voter participation though all offered in this section are heavily disputed. When asked why they do not vote, many people report that they have too little free time. However, over
1218-500: A multi-party system that makes accountability easier see much higher turnout than the systems of the United States, Japan, and Switzerland. Some parts of society are more likely to vote than others. As turnout approaches 90%, significant differences between voters and nonvoters lessen, but in lower turnout elections the differences between voters and nonvoters can be dramatic. More importantly than changes in specific election outcomes, voter turnout has seismic long-term implications on
1305-521: A party specifically geared towards the working class will tend to have higher turnouts among that class than in countries where voters have only big tent parties, which try to appeal to all the voters, to choose from. A four-wave panel study conducted during the 2010 Swedish national election campaign, show (1) clear differences in media use between age groups and (2) that both political social media use and attention to political news in traditional media increase political engagement over time. Social media
1392-549: A party's record can increase it. To counter this, programs such as MTV 's " Rock the Vote " and the " Vote or Die " initiatives have been introduced to increase turnouts of those between the ages of 18 and 25. A number of governments and electoral commissions have also launched efforts to boost turnout. For instance, Elections Canada has launched mass media campaigns to encourage voting prior to elections, as have bodies in Taiwan and
1479-489: A place, regardless of age , citizenship status or other factors that affect voting eligibility. This has the advantage of being an accessible indicator of how close a place may be to universal suffrage . Voting-age population: everyone above the legal voting age in a country regardless of citizenship status or other factors that might affect voting eligibility. This has the advantage of being easier to measure than 'eligible voters.' Eligible voters: This measures all
1566-618: A polling booth have been mandatory since the 1920s, with the 2016 federal election having turnout figures of 91% for the House of Representatives and 91.9% for the Senate . In Singapore, turnout at the 2020 general election was 95.81%, the highest since 1997 where it was 95.91%. This was an increase from the record low of 93.06% at the 2011 general election . Penalties for failing to vote are not always strictly enforced, and sanctions for non-voters are often mild. For instance, while voting
1653-519: A proportional one. Differing methods of measuring voter turnout can contribute to reported differences between nations. There are difficulties in measuring both the numerator, the number of voters who cast votes, and the denominator, the number of voters eligible to vote. In Sweden, validated individual-level turnout data is available for a subset of general and European Parliament elections, taken from Swedish election registers. From largest to smallest Signed-in: includes people who signed-in at
1740-551: A single legislature that holds most political power. Malta has a two-party system in which a small swing in votes can significantly alter the executive. Voters' perceptions of fairness also have an important effect on salience, where fears of fraud and corruption can suppress turnout. Minority voters are shown to mobilize when issues pertaining to their group identity become politically salient. Since most votes count in proportional representation systems , there are fewer " wasted votes ", so voters, aware that their vote can make
1827-418: A voter fails to participate in an election, they may be denied withdrawal of their salary from the bank for three months. Mark N. Franklin argues that salience, the perceived effect that an individual vote will have on how the country is run, has a significant effect on turnout. He presents Switzerland as an example of a nation with low salience. The nation's administration is highly decentralized, so that
SECTION 20
#17327727377351914-406: Is a decline in turnout in the United States and that it is the product of a change in campaigning strategies as a result of the so-called new media. Before the introduction of television, almost all of a party's resources would be directed towards intensive local campaigning and get out the vote initiatives. In the modern era, these resources have been redirected to expensive media campaigns in which
2001-401: Is a more formal arrangement than a confidence-and-supply agreement, in that members from junior parties (i.e., parties other than the largest) gain positions in the cabinet and ministerial roles , and are generally expected to hold the government whip on passing legislation. In most parliamentary democracies, members of a parliament can propose a motion of confidence or of no confidence in
2088-546: Is a move to a proportional representation system for countries that currently use first-past-the-post in elections. Countries that use proportional representation systems have higher turnouts when compared to those that do not. The reasoning that has been given for this is that voters feel they "are given a more meaningful choice at the ballot box" and that a proportional electoral system leads to greater voter representation. Voter turnout varies considerably between nations. One dataset with voter turnouts by country and election
2175-452: Is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one or more parties or independent MPs on confidence votes and the state budget ("supply"). On issues other than those outlined in the confidence and supply agreement, non-government partners to the agreement are not bound to support the government on any given piece of legislation. A coalition government
2262-515: Is nominally compulsory in Greece for adults up to 70 years of age, no one has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote, with voter turnout rates reaching as low as 57% in the September 2015 Greek legislative election . In Australia, people who do not vote are subject to a small fine, which is easily waived if one of many acceptable excuses for failing to vote is provided. In Bolivia , however, if
2349-439: Is not always used effectively and may sometimes have a negative impact on the results of the election. Barack Obama utilized Facebook to his benefit during his first run for presidency and truly jumpstarted the use of social media in political campaigns. We recently saw the utilization of social media and perhaps the negative impacts social media has on campaigns in the recent 2020 election. Rosenstone and Hansen contend that there
2436-629: Is the Election turnout indicator in V-Dem Democracy indices . It tends to be lower in North America, Asia and Latin America than in most of Europe and Oceania. Based on all parliamentary elections between 1945 and 1997, Western Europe averages a 77% turnout, and South and Central America around 54%. The differences between nations tend to be greater than those between classes, ethnic groups, or regions within nations. Confusingly, some of
2523-562: The 2014 election, National re-entered confidence-and-supply agreements with United Future, the ACT Party, and the Māori Party. In 2017, despite National winning more votes than Labour in the election, New Zealand First chose to enter coalition with Labour to help them change the government, with support on confidence and supply from the left-wing Green Party . Between 1977 and 1978, Jim Callaghan's Labour Party stayed in power thanks to
2610-553: The 2014 , saw a record breaking voters in the 2019 Indonesian general election with more than 158 million people cast their ballots on the same day, and has been called "the world's most complex one-day elections". Wealth and literacy have some effect on turnout, but are not reliable measures. Countries such as Angola and Ethiopia have long had high turnouts, but so have the wealthy states of Europe. The United Nations Human Development Index shows some correlation between higher standards of living and higher turnout. The age of
2697-604: The 2017 British Columbia provincial election , the Green Party of British Columbia agreed to a confidence-and-supply agreement in support of the British Columbia New Democratic Party . The incumbent British Columbia Liberal Party , which held a plurality of seats, briefly tried to form a government, but was immediately defeated in a confidence vote by the NDP and Greens. The agreement, which
Landsting (Denmark) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2784-802: The Andreotti III Cabinet was formed in 1976 with a confidence and supply agreement between the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party , referred to as "the historic compromise" ( Italian : il compromesso storico ), in which the Communist Party agreed not to vote against the government during confidence votes. The Dini Cabinet , formed in 1995, and the Monti Cabinet , formed in 2011, were technocratic governments which relied on
2871-605: The Bloc Québécois having signed a confidence agreement to support the proposed coalition. However, the proposed coalition and confidence agreement fell apart in January 2009, as a result of an ensuing parliamentary dispute . In 2022, a few months into the 44th Canadian Parliament , the NDP agreed to a confidence-and-supply agreement with the governing Liberal Party, to continue the Liberal minority government . The deal
2958-535: The COVID-19 pandemic . This is the first such agreement signed to ensure bipartisan cooperation . In New Zealand, confidence and supply arrangements are common due to the MMP system used in the country. The parties providing confidence and supply have a more prominent role than in other countries, with MPs from the support parties often being appointed to ministerial portfolios outside of Cabinet. New Zealand codified
3045-473: The Constitution of 1849 , the requirements for the right to vote was the same for the two houses, however the requirements for electability were stricter for the Landsting; candidates were limited to those of age 40 and above and they were required to have a substantial income. The house originally had 51 members, all elected indirectly. The voters elected a group of electors for each constituency , and
3132-582: The Dáil or Seanad . The deal lasted until the 32nd Dáil was dissolved on 14 January 2020 for a general election to be held in February 2020. In Italy, the equivalent of confidence and supply is called "external support" ( Italian : appoggio esterno ). Starting from the 1950s through the 1970s there were various examples of Christian Democratic cabinets being able to govern thanks to confidence and supply agreements with other minor parties. Most famously,
3219-531: The India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement . After the 2016 general election , a minority government was formed by Fine Gael and some independents, with confidence and supply ( Irish : muinín agus soláthar ) support from Fianna Fáil in return for a published set of policy commitments from the government. Fianna Fáil abstained on confidence and supply votes, but reserved the right to vote for or against any bill proposed in
3306-648: The Yukon Liberal Party and the Yukon Party winning the same number of seats, the third place Yukon New Democratic Party agreed to provide confidence and supply to a Liberal minority government. Third Front national governments were formed in 1989 and 1996 with outside support of one of the two major parties, BJP or Congress . The CPI-M gave outside support to the Congress Party from 2004 to 2008, but later withdrew support after
3393-429: The 1998 election, leaving clear control to the opposition, a so-called "Twisted Diet" . The Hashimoto Cabinet resigned to give way for a new cabinet led by prime minister Keizō Ōbuchi which entered formal negotiations with other parties to form a coalition government by January 1999 (First Reshuffled Obuchi Cabinet). There is another implicit form of cooperation where (usually very small) parties which are not part of
3480-661: The Conservative Party to attempt to form a government and attempt to gain the confidence of the house". People's Alliance leader Kris Austin said he would work with the new government "in the areas we agree on," and reiterated his promise to support the Progressive Conservatives on confidence votes for a period of 18 months. Green Party leader David Coon said he would start working with the Tories in an attempt to ensure his party's issues were on
3567-780: The Padrón is supervised by a national government agency, the Instituto National de Estatística (INE). La Oficina Electoral del Censo is the bureau, as part of the INE, responsible for compiling the electoral roll. Every Spanish citizen or EU resident, older than 18 years, is automatically included in the voter register. A strong factor affecting voter turnout is whether voting is compulsory, as countries that enforce compulsory voting tend to have far higher voter turnout rates. For example, in Australia , voter registration and attendance at
Landsting (Denmark) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3654-470: The U.S., which does not make elections days national holidays. Voter registration has been found to be a barrier to democratic participation. Therefore, another measure cited to boost election turnout is to have automatic voter registration, a measure that has been implemented in various democracies around the world. studies have shown that increased voter registration leads to greater turnout at elections. Another proposed measure to increase voter turnout
3741-679: The United Kingdom. Structural differences between democracies, including the complexity of the system and ease of voting are more often used to explain differences in turnout between nations, with United States voters in particular suffering from a complicated maze of federalism and separation of powers that is relatively unique among democracies. The Brennan Center for Justice reported that in 2016 fourteen states passed restrictive voting laws. Examples of these laws are photo ID mandates, narrow times for early voting, and limitations on voter registration. Barbour and Wright also believe that one of
3828-567: The United States, negative campaigning and character attacks are more common than elsewhere, potentially suppressing turnouts. The focus placed on get out the vote efforts and mass-marketing can have important effects on turnout. Partisanship is an important impetus to turnout, with the highly partisan more likely to vote. Turnout tends to be higher in nations where political allegiance is closely linked to class, ethnic, linguistic, or religious loyalties. Countries where multiparty systems have developed also tend to have higher turnouts. Nations with
3915-573: The United States. In the United States and most Latin American nations, voters must go through separate voter registration procedures before they are allowed to vote. This two-step process quite clearly decreases turnout . US states with no, or easier, registration requirements have larger turnouts. A country with a highly efficient registration process is France. At the age of eighteen, all youth are automatically registered . Only new residents and citizens who have moved are responsible for bearing
4002-447: The United States. Voter turnout everywhere would be higher if measured by eligibility and not voting-age population. Even in countries with fewer restrictions on the franchise, voting age population turnout data can still be impacted by large numbers of non-citizen residents and non-resident citizens voting , often under-reporting turnout by as much as 10 percentage points. Professor Michael P. McDonald constructed an estimation of
4089-482: The abilities of democracies to function. For example, regulatory capture tends to afflict low-turnout democracies more, blocking popular democratic reforms like streamlining elections. Institutional factors have the most significant impact on voter turnout. Making voting compulsory has a direct and dramatic effect on turnout while adding barriers, such as a separate registration process or unnecessarily scheduling many elections , suppresses turnout . In addition,
4176-445: The average age is somewhat higher, such as Europe; have higher turnouts than somewhat younger countries such as the United States. Populations that are more mobile and those that have lower marriage rates tend to have lower turnout. In countries that are highly multicultural and multilingual, it can be difficult for national election campaigns to engage all sectors of the population. The nature of elections also varies between nations. In
4263-431: The average time voters wait in line, or requiring companies to give workers some time off on voting day. A 2017 study found that turnout among older voters increases the earlier polling places open, while turnout among younger voters improves the longer polling places stay open. If there are many elections in close succession, voter turnout tends to decrease as the public tires of participating. In low-turnout Switzerland,
4350-405: The average voter is invited to go to the polls an average of seven times a year; the United States has frequent elections, with two votes per year on average (e.g. local government and primaries ). Eliminating off-cycle elections boosts turnout while being popular with voters. Another form of voter fatigue occurs when voters are asked to weigh-in on dozens of contests, as occurs in some parts of
4437-565: The cabinet join one of the ruling parties in joint parliamentary groups in one or both houses of the National Diet and vote with the government. A recent example were the joint LDP groups with the Party for Japanese Kokoro and New Party Daichi during the 2nd Reshuffled Third Abe Cabinet. A confidence and supply agreement was signed on 13 September 2021 between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan to strengthen political stability amid
SECTION 50
#17327727377354524-520: The causes is restrictive voting laws but they call this system of laws regulating the electorate. The Constitution gives states the power to make decisions regarding restrictive voting laws. In 2008 the Supreme Court made a crucial decision regarding Indiana's voter ID law in saying that it does not violate the constitution. Since then almost half of the states have passed restrictive voting laws. These laws contribute to Barbour and Wrights idea of
4611-438: The civic and political sphere. This category is not limited to any socioeconomic or demographic groups. Google theorizes that individuals in this category suffer from political apathy , as they are interested in political life but believe that their individual effect would be negligible. These individuals often participate politically on the local level, but shy away from national elections. The chance of any one vote determining
4698-410: The closer democracies are to 'one person, one vote' increases turnout as voters see that their effort has an impact. This can be seen in the higher turnout rates of proportional parliamentary democracies. Other methods of making voting easier to increase turnout include vote-by-mail , absentee polling and improved access to polls, such as increasing the number of possible voting locations, lowering
4785-470: The community, and it generally numbered about a hundred men. Tings were necessary in the clan-based society of Northern Germany and Scandinavia , because they allowed for inter-clan wars to be resolved or prevented through the mediation of the ting. It also served as the place for religious rites and trade negotiations. The Landsting is also the Danish name for the modern Parliament of Greenland . Under
4872-541: The costs and inconvenience of updating their registration. Similarly, in Nordic countries , all citizens and residents are included in the official population register, which is simultaneously a tax list, voter registration, and membership in the universal health system. Residents are required by law to report any change of address to the register within a short time after moving. This is also the system in Germany (but without
4959-678: The devolved legislatures of Scotland and Wales due to the use of proportional representation . The Scottish National Party and Scottish Green Party had a confidence and supply deal in the Scottish Parliament . The Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru had a similar co-operation deal in the Welsh Assembly until October 2017. Voter turnout Institutional factors drive the vast majority of differences in turnout rates. For example, simpler parliamentary democracies where voters get shorter ballots, fewer elections, and
5046-603: The electors elected the members of the house. The members were elected for a term of eight years; however, terms were staggered so that half of the seats were up for election every four years. With the Constitution of 1866, the electoral system was reformed. The number of seats was increased to 66 of which 12 were appointed by the king for a period of twelve years, and one by the Faroese Løgting . The remaining 53 were elected indirectly. In Copenhagen , half
5133-482: The electors were elected by the voters paying the largest amount of tax, and the other half by all the voters. In the rest of the country, one elector was elected by the voters in each parish in the countryside and half as many electors were elected in the market towns by the same system as in Copenhagen. Then for each elector elected in the parishes and the market towns, one elector was found among those that paid
5220-465: The factors that cause internal differences do not seem to apply on a global level. For instance, nations with better-educated populaces do not have higher turnouts. There are two main commonly cited causes of these international differences: culture and institutions. However, there is much debate over the relative impact of the various factors. Indonesia, which before 1998 always had a high percentage of voter (more than 87%) but then dip down to low 70% in
5307-412: The federal government has limited powers. Important decisions are also placed before the population in a referendum . Individual votes for the federal legislature are thus less likely to have a significant effect on the complex web of systems, which probably explains some of the low average turnouts in that more complicated democracy. By contrast Malta , with one of the world's highest voter turnouts, has
SECTION 60
#17327727377355394-519: The governing coalition with the LDP until the election: the JSP and Shintō Sakigake (NPH/NPS/Sakigake). By 1997, the LDP had gained a House of Representatives majority of its own through accessions (see New Frontier Party ) and was hoping to regain full parliamentary control in the 1998 House of Councillors election. Instead, the cooperation agreement was ultimately terminated while the government lost seats in
5481-498: The government or executive. The results of such motions show how much support the government currently has in parliament. Should a motion of confidence fail, or a motion of no confidence pass, the government will usually either resign and allow other politicians to form a new government, or call an election. Most parliamentary democracies require an annual state budget, an appropriation bill , also called supply bill, or occasional financial measures to be passed by parliament in order for
5568-661: The government's agenda. Twenty-two days after the 1985 Ontario provincial election , the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario government resigned after a vote of no confidence , and the Ontario Liberal Party formed a government with the support of the Ontario New Democratic Party . The agreement between the two parties was referred to as "The Accord". After the 2021 territorial election resulted in
5655-407: The government. Subsequently, Premier Brian Gallant indicated his intention to resign the premiership and recommend to the lieutenant governor that PC leader Blaine Higgs be given the mandate to form a minority government: "I will go see the lieutenant-governor at her earliest convenience to inform her that I will be resigning as premier, and I will humbly suggest to her honour to allow the leader of
5742-427: The greatest amount of tax in the parishes. As the main direct tax of the time was based on real estate and its value as farmland , this system greatly favoured manor owners. The result was a conservative majority lasting 35 years, until the 1902 election . The next reform of the electoral system came with the Constitution of 1915, and the first election under this system was the 1918 election . Women were given
5829-634: The high youth turnout of 1972 (the first year 18- to 20-year-olds were eligible to vote in most states) is removed from the trendline. Other forms of political participation have declined, such as voluntary participation in political parties and the attendance of observers at town meetings. Meanwhile, church attendance, membership in professional, fraternal, and student societies, youth groups, and parent-teacher associations has also declined. Some argue that technological developments in society such as "automobilization," suburban living, and "an explosive proliferation of home entertainment devices" have contributed to
5916-529: The incumbent Liberal government reached 14 out of 18 seats required for a majority. The Jacqui Lambie Network , along with Independent MHAs, David O'Byrne and Kristie Johnston entered into a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberal government. In November 2008, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) reached an agreement to form a minority coalition government, with
6003-402: The last several decades, studies have consistently shown that the amount of leisure time has not decreased, even if the perception of less leisure time results in less participation. While wages and employment decrease voter turnout in gubernatorial elections, they appear to not affect national races. Geographic mobility has increased over the last few decades, bringing barriers to voting in
6090-407: The members were largely conservatives . Membership of the house was then restricted to certain sectors of society: only males with a certain net worth could hold a seat. In 1915, these restrictions were removed, and a few new members were appointed by the existing members. Ting (old Norse: þing ) means assembly . It first came into being during Viking times and was formed by the freemen of
6177-517: The membership in the health system). Spain has also a similar system called "Padrón Municipal de Habitantes", held by municipalities. Persons register themselves in the Padrón as local residents (every resident in Spain must be registered in any municipality). The Padrón is used for providing most local, regional, and national government services. It also serves as the electoral register. In order to avoid duplications and to gather statistics on demography,
6264-636: The outcome is low. Some studies show that a single vote in a voting scheme such as the Electoral College in the United States has an even lower chance of determining the outcome. Other studies claim that the Electoral College actually increases voting power. Studies using game theory , which takes into account the ability of voters to interact, have also found that the expected turnout for any large election should be zero. The basic formula for determining whether someone will vote, on
6351-412: The outcome of the election. For the numerator, it is often assumed that the number of voters who went to the polls should equal the number of ballots cast, which in turn should equal the number of votes counted, but this is not the case. Not all voters who arrive at the polls necessarily cast ballots. Some may be turned away because they are ineligible, some may be turned away improperly, and some who sign
6438-430: The polls, but did not cast a ballot. Ballots Cast: Total number of ballots cast, regardless of how many were filled-out or accepted. Ballots Accepted: this subtracts spoilt votes but in some places includes blank ballots that were otherwise accepted. Completed Ballots: This metric looks at ballots that were accepted and completed. This is the smallest numerator, but captures only those ballots that will impact
6525-515: The potential voter is a passive participant. During the same period, negative campaigning has become ubiquitous in the United States and elsewhere and has been shown to impact voter turnout. Attack ads and smear campaigns give voters a negative impression of the entire political process. The evidence for this is mixed: elections involving highly unpopular incumbents generally have high turnout; some studies have found that mudslinging and character attacks reduce turnout, but that substantive attacks on
6612-655: The procedures it used to form these Governments in its Cabinet Manual . John Key 's National Party administration formed a minority government in 2008 thanks to a confidence-and-supply agreement with the ACT , United Future and the Māori Party . A similar arrangement in 2005 had led to Helen Clark 's Labour Party forming a coalition government with the Progressive Party , with support on confidence and supply from New Zealand First and United Future . After
6699-447: The questionable assumption that people act completely rationally, is where Since P is virtually zero in most elections, PB may be also near zero, and D is thus the most important element in motivating people to vote. For a person to vote, these factors must outweigh C . Experimental political science has found that even when P is likely greater than zero, this term has no effect on voter turnout. Enos and Fowler (2014) conducted
6786-594: The rational nonvoter. This is someone who does not vote because the benefits of them not voting outweighs the cost to vote. These laws add to the "cost" of voting, or reason that make it more difficult and to vote. Google extensively studied the causes behind low voter turnout in the United States, and argues that one of the key reasons behind lack of voter participation is the so-called "interested bystander". According to Google's study, 48.9% of adult Americans can be classified as "interested bystanders", as they are politically informed but are reticent to involve themselves in
6873-424: The right to vote , the number of seats was increased to 72, the number of constituencies was reduced to seven, and the system of royally appointed members was replaced by 18 members elected by the resigning Landsting for a period of eight years. The same year, Inger Gautier Schmit , along with Nina Bang , Marie Christensen , Marie Hjelmer and Olga Knudsen , were the first women elected to the Landsting. Although
6960-538: The sum of votes for the top race on the ballot, because not all jurisdictions report the actual number of people who went to the polls nor the number of undervotes or overvotes. Overvote rates of around 0.3 percent are typical of well-run elections, but in Gadsden County Florida, the overvote rate was 11 percent in November 2000. From largest to smallest Total population: everyone who lives in
7047-581: The support of the main parties in Parliament during confidence votes. In Japan , the equivalent of a confidence and supply arrangement is called "extra-cabinet cooperation" ( 閣外協力 , kakugai kyōryoku ) . The latest such agreement was made after the 1996 House of Representatives election between the Second Hashimoto Cabinet , an LDP single-party government somewhat short of majorities in both houses, and two parties which had formed
7134-460: The turnout against the ' voting eligible population ' (VEP), instead of the ' voting age population' (VAP). For the American presidential elections of 2004, turnout could then be expressed as 60.32% of voting eligible population, rather than 55.27% of voting age population. In New Zealand, registration is supposed to be universal. This does not eliminate uncertainty in the eligible population because this system has been shown to be unreliable, with
7221-496: The voters allowed to vote under current law, which in some places includes people who have not registered or re-registered to vote. This is more difficult to measure as more categories of people are disenfranchised and can include non-resident voters . Registered voters : This measurement captures all who are registered to vote. This has the advantage of being easy to measure and readily accessible, though overlooks those who are unwilling or unable to register due to barriers such as
7308-517: The voting register may not actually cast ballots. Furthermore, voters who do cast ballots may abstain, deliberately voting for nobody, or they may spoil their votes, either accidentally or as an act of protest. In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission distinguishes between "valid vote turnout", which excludes spoilt ballots, and "ballot box turnout", which does not. In the United States, it has been common to report turnout as
7395-470: The voting-age population. By 2004, ineligible voters constituted nearly 10%. Ineligible voters are not evenly distributed across the country – 20% of California's voting-age population is ineligible to vote – which confounds comparisons of states. Furthermore, they argue that an examination of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey shows that turnout is low but not declining among the youth, when
7482-421: Was intended to keep the minority Liberal government in power until 2025, with the NDP agreeing to support the government on confidence motions and budget votes. In exchange, the Liberal government pledged to advance work on key NDP policy priorities on dental care, pharmaceutical drugs, and affordable childcare. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh announced the early termination of the agreement on 4 September 2024. After
7569-573: Was intended to remain in effect until the next fixed election in October 2021, was ended early when premier John Horgan requested the lieutenant governor call a snap election in 2020 . On 2 November 2018 (less than two months after the 2018 New Brunswick general election ) the legislative assembly voted 25-23 for a motion, introduced by the Progressive Conservatives , to amend the throne speech to declare no confidence in
#734265