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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.

Whether electronic voting machines lessen the tendency of voters to vote at the top of the ballot and skip the bottom; US.

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.

Discusses the impact of use of the electronic voting machine on the rate at which voters take part in direct democracy by lowering ballot roll-off, that is, failure by voters at the polls to record a preference in referenda contests; based on voting data, 1992 and 1996; Kentucky.