Evaluating Voting Policy Success: Voter Satisfaction

Abstract

As seen in Chapter 4, the ability of voting legislation to influence aggregate outcomes is somewhat limited. Although there appears to be improvement in Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) ballot return rates and UOCAVA ballot acceptance rates after the implementation of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, military and overseas voter turnout remains low. However, public policy influences not only aggregate macro-level outcomes, but also micro-level individual variables. In contrast to Chapter 4, this chapter looks at the impact of public policy on the individual voter. How have voters responded to changes in the voting process? Are voters more satisfied with the process than in previous years? In this chapter, I use data from the Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) 2008 and 2010 postelection voter surveys (whose methodology is described in detail in Chapter 2) to examine whether the implementation of electronic transmission methods in the MOVE Act impacted the individual’s perception of the voting process.