Does The Initiative Process Impact Voter Turnout?

Two recent scholarly studies find the presence of initiatives on the ballot has a positive effect on turnout rates In the United States. Examining initiatives and popular referenda on state ballots between 1972 and 1996. University of Washington political scientist Mark Smith found that states with “salient" initiatives and popular referendums measured by the percent of front-page newspaper coverage devoted to ballot issues on the day following an election tend to have higher turnout in midterm elections (by roughly 3%) than non-Initiative states, but not In presidential years. Smith’s study, "The Contingent Effects of Ballot Initiatives and Candidate Races on Turnout,” was published In the American Journal of Political Science in 2001.

  Similarly, using pooled time series data far the 50 states over a twenty-six year period (1970: -1996), political scientists Caroline Tolbert (Kent State), John Grummel (Kent State), and Daniel Smith (University of Denver) found that states with more Initiatives measured by the actual number of initiatives appearing on statewide ballots have higher voter turnout in both presidential (roughly 4%) and midterm elections (roughly 8%) than states without the process. Their 2001 study, ‘The Effects of Ballot Initiatives on Voter Turnout in the United States,” was published in American Politics Research.