Partisanship and Voter Confidence, 2000-2012
Working Paper No.: 125Date Published: 2014-06-01
Author(s):
Michael W. Sances, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles Stewart III, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract:
To what degree is voter confidence in election procedures driven by satisfaction with the
outcome of an election, as opposed to trust in government or objective features of the polling
place, such as voting technology? Using approximately 30 national surveys over the past
decade, we find a consistent relationship between voting for the winner and confidence in
election administration. This confidence varies as a function of question wording and electoral
context. Respondents are more confident in the quality of the vote count locally than nationally.
They are responsive to electoral results at the state and national levels in forming their
judgements. And, rather than being influenced by different types of voting technology,
respondents lose confidence by virtue of change itself.