Tag: voting

It is time for automatic voter registration in the UK

It is time for automatic voter registration in the UK

Ahead of each UK election, there is a rush to get people registered to vote, and confusion about who is already registered. In a new report Toby James and Paul Bernal set out how to improve the system while protecting data privacy, through automatic or assisted voter registration, and so widen access to democratic participation.

Why don’t immigrants vote more?

Why don’t immigrants vote more?

There are relatively few cases where non-citizen immigrants can vote in municipal elections, but where they can participation tends to be low. Didier Ruedin assesses the case of Geneva, where he finds that, even accounting for social origin, engagement, civic integration and socialisation, there is a gap in participation that needs further explanation.

Immobility and support for Leave: Brexit was partly a reaction to change from the locally rooted

Immobility and support for Leave: Brexit was partly a reaction to change from the locally rooted

Popular explanations of the Brexit vote have centred on the division between cosmopolitan internationalists who voted Remain, and geographically-rooted individuals who voted Leave. Katy Morris, Neil Lee, and Thomas Kemeny write that residential immobility also matters. They explain why those living in their county of birth were more likely to support Leave. However, the impact of immobility was filtered […]

Book review | Masculinity, Femininity and American Political Behavior, by Monika McDermott

Book review | Masculinity, Femininity and American Political Behavior, by Monika McDermott

In Masculinity, Femininity and American Political Behavior, Monika McDermott presents research that fundamentally questions longstanding assumptions regarding the influence of biological sex when it comes to US voting behaviour. Arguing that it is gendered personality traits that have greater implications when it comes to political preference, this offers a valuable challenge to reductive understandings as […]

Too late for GE2017 – but now universities will have to play a role in registering students to vote

Too late for GE2017 – but now universities will have to play a role in registering students to vote

It came too late for this general election – but Parliament has passed legislation that will mean that universities will again have to play a role in registering their students to vote. Toby S James, Chris Rennard and Josh Dell explain why this is likely to have a profound effect on young people’s turnout. Photo […]

Who don’t young people vote? Self-confessed ignorance, and dislike of the mainstream

Who don’t young people vote? Self-confessed ignorance, and dislike of the mainstream

Consistently low turnout rates among young people are often interpreted as apathy. But this is not the case, argues Iro Konstantinou. They acknowledge their ignorance of politics and are unhappy with the citizenship curriculum, wanting it widened to include practical democratic issues rather than just party politics. Many regard social media activism and individual actions as more […]

We need to make it easier for people to vote, not harder – and registering is still a big problem

We need to make it easier for people to vote, not harder – and registering is still a big problem

Despite the voter ID pilot next year, most people believe voter fraud isn’t a problem in the UK. But a significant minority want changes to the election system – notably more financial transparency and information about their candidates. And while relatively few want online voting, registering to vote, even though it can now be done online, […]

The empathy gap: understanding why some people don’t vote

The empathy gap: understanding why some people don’t vote

Not everyone votes. Using data from the 2015 Finnish National Election Study, Kimmo Grönlund and Hanna Wass look at what factors make a person less likely to go to the polls or get involved in politics. They warn against assuming non-voting is a matter of personal choice and suggest ways to overcome the ‘solidarity deficit’ that emerges […]

Free and fair? 2016’s elections so far, ranked by integrity

Free and fair? 2016’s elections so far, ranked by integrity

Which countries hold the fairest elections? The Perceptions of Electoral Integrity dataset analysed every election held so far in 2016 and ranked countries in order of electoral integrity. Ferran Martinez i Coma introduces the findings and identifies some important trends – notably a move away from ballot-stuffing and towards abuses of campaign finance and media […]

The people have spoken. Or have they? Doing referendums differently after the EU vote

The people have spoken. Or have they? Doing referendums differently after the EU vote

Referendums have become a central feature of our politics, writes Will Brett. In this extract from the Electoral Reform Society‘s report on the lessons learned from the Brexit vote, he sets out the shortcomings of the EU referendum and proposes how to improve the quality of debate next time – including intervention when campaigners make misleading […]