How Well-Intentioned Measures Have Unintended Consequences for Election Turnout

Key Messages

• Reassigning citizens to vote at a different polling place causes a persistent shift from in-person to mail-in voting and a transitory drop in total turnout
• The turnout loss is driven by inattentive voters, who miss the deadline for requesting a mail-in ballot
• The effects are more driven by the reassignment itself and less by the changes in distance to the polling location
• Explicit notification about polling place reassignments could prevent losses in turnout