Prepaid postage using pre-stamped envelopes to affect turnout costs

Bibliographic Data

ID4172390
AuthorsJenny Yin (University of Zurich), Thomas Willi (0000-0002-2754-6332, University of Zurich), Lucas Leemann (0000-0001-5201-869X, University of Zurich, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume74
Pages102405
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueElectoral Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-3794 • E-ISSN: 1873-6890
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102405
OpenAlexW3206863696
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited8

Voter participation in elections is important for representational reasons but also because it helps to support the legitimacy of the election outcome. In a recent paper, Schelker and Schneiter (2017) show with data from only one Swiss canton that a small policy intervention (return envelopes with prepaid postage) can lead to substantially increased voter turnout rates. We revisit this finding and extend the analysis to all cantons that allow municipalities to offer free return postage. We find that a credible estimate of the effect is somewhat smaller but still positive and significant. We also document that this effect is not constant but stronger for larger municipalities than for smaller municipalities. Our interviews point to a likely mechanism. These results show that return envelopes with prepaid postage are an effective policy to increase participation, but mostly for large municipalities

Affect (linguistics · Business · Demographic economics · Econometrics · Economics · Legitimacy · Panel data · Point (geometry · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Sociology · Turnout · Voter turnout · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Public Administration

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