Do text messages increase voter registration? Evidence from RCTs with a local authority and an advocacy organisation in the UK

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4170663
AutoresVanessa Cheng-Matsuno, Vanessa Cheng‐matsuno (0000-0003-2625-1812, London School of Economics and Political Science), Florian Foos (0000-0003-4456-3799, London School of Economics and Political Science), Peter John (0000-0002-7934-1187, King's College London, autor correspondente), Asli Unan (0000-0002-6542-5443, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Ano2023
Volume81
Páginas102572
Data de publicação2023-02-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoElectoral Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0261-3794 • E-ISSN: 1873-6890
EditoraElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.electstud.2022.102572
OpenAlexW4319289020
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas28

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, text messages have become an increasingly attractive tool of voter registration. At the same time, in countries without automated registration, advocacy organisations play a more prominent role in supplementing the efforts of official bodies in registering voters. However, most available, robust evidence on whether voter registration campaigns work is based on campaigns conducted by official bodies charged with electoral registration. We present the results of two RCTs that aimed to increase voter registration in the UK using SMS-text messages, relying mainly on behavioural messaging. One was conducted by a local authority, while the other was implemented by an issue advocacy organisation that had no prior involvement in voter registration. In line with previous findings, the local authority's text messages resulted in an increased registration rate of eight percentage-points, which translates into a three percentage-point increase in voter turnout. However, the advocacy organisation's text messages neither increased voter registration, nor turnout, no matter whether the text message offered a personal follow-up conversation, or not. Given that many voter registration campaigns are run by advocacy organisations and text messages are an increasingly important mobilisation tool, this raises questions about the scope conditions of existing findings

Conversation · Medical education · Political science · Politics · Pre-Registration · Public relations · Scope (computer science · Turnout · Voter registration · Voter turnout · Voting · Communication · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics