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Innovations in voting systems raise questions about the electoral effects of such developments. This study examines the impact of a new voting device, electronic voting machines, on ballot roll-off. It is found that electronic machines sharply attenuate roll—off—particularly in lower visibility contests at the bottom of the ballot—even after various other forces related to voter fatigue are taken into consideration. These are surprising results, given that recent studies have attributed only minimal effects to electronic machines. Finally, the electoral and normative implications of widespread use of electronic voting machines are considered.

Objectives. Many cities in the United States have undergone or are undergoing racial transition from a majority white to a majority black population. Accompanying this is a change in the racial makeup of elections and officeholders. This article seeks to explain racial patterns in voter roll‐off as a city undergoes racial transition.Methods. Using a fixed‐effects regression model, we analyze the level of voter roll‐off (from the top‐of‐the‐ballot mayoral contest) among black and white voters across Memphis City Council elections, from 1967 through 2003.Results. The level of voter roll‐off among racial groups is sensitive to the racial aspect of political change. Black voters are most likely to continue to vote in council contests when there is a racial choice among candidates, when blacks have previously been elected, and when blacks occupy the mayoralty and a majority of council seats. Whites are most likely to vote in racially competitive council contests, as well as when there are a large number of white candidates, and when whites hold a majority of the council seats.Conclusions. In settings such as Memphis, where race has played a pronounced historic role, the racial context of political empowerment has a strong influence on electoral participation. Elections below the top‐of‐the‐ballot become more salient, and political efficacy grows among racial group members when that cohort occupies institutional positions, particularly the majority of positions in a governing institution.

Previous research on racial differences in roll-off (ballot noncompletion) has shown that black voter roll-off is responsive to the relative size of the black electorate and the salience of the election to black voters. The authors examine racial differences in roll-off in 1996 Milwaukee County elections and attempt to explain why black voter roll-off is appreciably lower than would be expected given the relative size of the black electorate. By comparing findings from Milwaukee to other cities, the authors present a possible explanation that examines how the institutional context may condition mobilization factors.

Borrowing findings from the literature on voter turnout, the authors examine the causes of roll-off in city council contests among black voters in New Orleans, a black empowerment area, between 1965 and 1998. The findings suggest the relevance of institutional power on group political participation. Roll-off among black voters declined after blacks held the majority of city council seats. Moreover, the findings indicate the relevance of election competitiveness. Black voter roll-off was lower in runoff elections than in primaries. Finally, the findings suggest that mobilization by black candidates, particularly by black incumbents, may yield enhanced political participation among black voters in urban elections.

The authors use the 1993 municipal election in Atlanta, Georgia, and a special election to fill two vacancies on the Fulton County (Georgia) Commission to test ballot-confusion, saliency-of-the-contest, and voter-fatigue explanations for roll-off (ballot noncompletion). No evidence of the ballot-confusion explanation is found, but some evidence of voter fatigue and contest visibility is apparent. Racial differences in roll-off have implications for the responsiveness of public officials and the creation of single-member districts.

Growing evidence suggests that extreme candidates perform worse, in part because their party's share of turnout declines. But does candidate ideology affect the decision of whether to abstain in a House race among voters who already turned out in the presidential election? I examine the relationship between candidates' ideology and voter abstention in the House contest, reporting two main results. First, fewer voters abstain in elections featuring more ideologically polarized House candidates. A consideration of party effects reveals more nuance, however: In most cases, roll‐off is lower when extreme candidates run, but the effect of an extreme Republican is substantially larger than that of an extreme Democrat. Further analysis suggests that decreased roll‐off is probably due to extreme candidates mobilizing out‐partisans. My results suggest that allowing for the possibility of voter abstention is an important theoretical addition to understanding the behavioral effects of extremist candidates.

Efficiency roll-off is a major issue for most types of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and its origins remain controversial. Here we present investigations of the efficiency roll-off in perovskite LEDs based on two-dimensional layered perovskites. By simultaneously measuring electroluminescence and photoluminescence on a working device, supported by transient photoluminescence decay measurements, we conclude that the efficiency roll-off in perovskite LEDs is mainly due to luminescence quenching which is likely caused by non-radiative Auger recombination. This detrimental effect can be suppressed by increasing the width of quantum wells, which can be easily realized in the layered perovskites by tuning the ratio of large and small organic cations in the precursor solution. This approach leads to the realization of a perovskite LED with a record external quantum efficiency of 12.7%, and the efficiency remains to be high, at approximately 10%, under a high current density of 500 mA cm(-2). ; Funding Agencies|National Basic Research Program of China-Fundamental Studies of Perovskite Solar Cells [2015CB932200]; European Union [2016YFE0112000]; Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [91733302]; Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China [BK20150043]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [11474164, 61405091, 61634001]; National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [6172550]; Synergetic Innovation Center for Organic Electronics and Information Displays; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University [2009-00971]; Swedish Research Council (VR); European Commission [691210]

In an article published in the September, 2007 issue of Politics and Policy, "Race, Roll‐Off, and the Straight‐Ticket Option," this author reported that African‐American voters are less likely than white voters to roll off (or drop off) for lower‐level offices if the straight‐ticket option is available. That surprising result was traced to the finding that black voters were much more likely than white voters to use that option (which eliminates roll‐off for lower‐level offices). However, that finding was based on just one election in a Southern state. This article extends this research by exploring the race‐roll‐off‐straight‐ticket option relationship in three racially diverse Midwestern jurisdictions, and also by exploring it when votes for ballot measures are considered. It confirms the earlier result regarding elections for lower‐level office but finds that the option leads to increased roll‐off on ballot measures and, consequently, to even more roll‐off among black voters than white voters on ballot measures.En el artículo "Race, Roll‐Off, and the Straight‐Ticket Option," publicado en el número de Septiembre de 2007 de Politics & Policy, éste autor reportó que en comparación con los votantes blancos, es más probable que los votantes afroamericanos ejerzan su voto a favor de todos los contendientes de su partido preferido si la opción de straight‐ticket fuera implementada. Esta opción implica que el elector puede votar en una sola boleta por todos los candidatos del mismo partido que están contendiendo por puestos de elección popular, esto en lugar de llenar una boleta por cada puesto (presidente, senador, diputado, y así respectivamente). Sin embargo, el hallazgo sobre la mayor predisposición de la población afroamericana a recurrir a dicha opción se basó en investigación realizada en un solo estado sureño. El presente artículo va más allá al explorar la relación entre raza y la opción straight–ticket en tres jurisdicciones racialmente diversas del medio‐oeste, y al explorarlas también cuando los votos son considerados para referenda. Esta investigación confirma el hallazgo de la investigación anterior sobre la preferencia afroamericana por el straight–ticket pero descubre que hay menor preferencia por dicha opción por parte de los afroamericanos respecto a los blancos cuando ésta involucra decidir asuntos de referenda de acuerdo a las posiciones del partido preferido.

Ballot questions often feature obscure and legalistic language that is difficult to comprehend. Because the language of ballot questions is often unclear, the authors hypothesize that questions with lower readability will have higher roll-off because voters will not answer questions they do not understand. The authors use an objective measure of readability to code readability scores for 1,211 state-level ballot questions from 1997 to 2007. Using hierarchical linear regression models of state-level data, the authors find that increased complexity leads to more roll-off. The authors further analyze some possible influences on readability by examining whether it is affected by the question topic.

Ballot questions often feature obscure and legalistic language that is difficult to comprehend. Because the language of ballot questions is often unclear, the authors hypothesize that questions with lower readability will have higher roll-off because voters will not answer questions they do not understand. The authors use an objective measure of readability to code readability scores for 1,211 state-level ballot questions from 1997 to 2007. Using hierarchical linear regression models of state-level data, the authors find that increased complexity leads to more roll-off. The authors further analyze some possible influences on readability by examining whether it is affected by the question topic. Adapted from the source document.