The Effect of Information and Voter Confidence on Turnout

Voter turnout is an important factor when attempting to assess a population’s preferences accurately. Understanding the factors that influence voter turnout will aid in raising electoral participation. This paper focuses on the effect of informed voters and voter confidence on voter turnout. It is concluded that informed voters are strongly linked with higher voter turnouts. Voter confidence is decomposed into voter confidence (perception of electoral integrity) and voter self-confidence (perception of the “correct” decision being made). It is concluded that increased voter confidence is linked to higher voter turnout. It is foreshadowed based on research outside the political domain that voter self-confidence would show similar results if tested.