EDITORIAL: More studies conclude that early voting doesn’t boost participation

Nevada was one of the first states to offer early voting, initiating the practice in the early 1990s. In the 2000 election, for the first time, the number of Clark County voters casting early ballots exceeded those marching to the polls on Election Day.

These days, almost twice as many Nevadans take advantage of the two-week early voting window than wait for Election Day. Unheard of three decades ago, early voting beyond traditional absentee or mail-in ballots is now the norm in 34 states.

The proliferation of the option has led many to conclude that early voting is vital to increasing turnout, particularly among poor and minority populations. So embedded is this article of faith that Democrats last year filed federal lawsuits accusing Republicans of voter suppression over laws in three states that tightened windows for pre-election balloting.

But while many voters clearly prefer the option as a matter of convenience, an increasing number of studies now find scant evidence that these efforts actually drive more people to the polls.

“Most early-voting programs didn’t increase the number of people who cast ballots in 2016,” the Wall Street Journal reported last week, “they just changed the way people participated, according to examinations of this year’s election results.”

Ohio, for example, introduced early voting in 2008. But while 1.72 million voters in that state cast their ballots prior to Election Day that cycle, overall turnout barely increased from 2004. Meanwhile, voter participation in the Buckeye State declined in both 2012 and 2016 despite the fact that more residents voted early each year.

“You’re just moving the same amount of votes,” an Ohio political activist told the Journal, adding that voter motivation is the true driving force behind turnout.

The Ohio numbers comport with a 2013 University of Wisconsin study which found that early voting can actually decrease participation. “These researchers say it’s because early voting robs ‘Election Day of its stimulating effects,’ reducing social pressure to vote and gives less reason for campaigns to motivate their supporters and get them to the polls,” the Pew Research Center noted.

The Nevada trends don’t look much different. Despite a slight jump from 2008 to 2012 in the percentage of registered voters who cast early ballots, overall turnout barely increased. And regardless of the utility of the early window, the number of Nevadans signed up to vote who participated in the 2016 presidential election declined more than 4 percentage points.

No doubt early voting is here to stay given its popularity. But the courts should dismiss arguments that modest reforms limiting such programs represent a nefarious effort to keep interested voters from the polls. The facts don’t bear this out.