Predicting Voter Turnout

This project is looking at voting behavior and the reasons people vote. Upon further research, I discovered what Political scientist Richard Timpone describes as “hurdles” to the voting registration process in his article Structure, Behavior, and Voter Turnout in the United States. Timpone attributes low voter turnout rates to stricter rules around voter registration. This project will explore other possible “hurdles” other people must overcome to vote and determine if they have a significant impact on voter turnout. To determine voter turnout, the Voter Eligible Population (VEP) will be used. VEP measures only people who can vote based on their state\u27s rules around voting. This allows me to control for deterministic situations that hinder voter and consider just people’s willingness to vote. The VEP was provided by the United States Election Project, and organization that has been tracking VEP in each states and D.C. since 1980. For this project, I will be looking to see if Population, Property Crime Rates, Violent Crime Rates, Number of Federal Representatives a State has, Proportion of the House of Representatives a State Represents, Voter I.D. Laws, Whether or not there’s a Presidential Election that year, The Party of the Governor, The Party of the President, the Majority Party in the House of Representatives, Whether or not the Governor’s Party is the Same as the President’s Party, and Whether or not the Governor’s Party is the Same as the Majority Party in the House of Representatives