Unpublished Paper
Iowa Voting Series, Paper 6: An Examination of Iowa Absentee Voting Since 1988
Iowa Voting Series
(2023)
Abstract
This is the sixth paper in a series examining aspects of voting in Iowa. In this paper I examine Iowa’s absentee voting in presidential and midterm elections since 1988. The results show a trend for increased absentee voting in Iowa. The trend exists for both midterm and presidential elections, though the average percentage of absentee voting in midterm elections was below the average for presidential elections. In looking at various subgroups based on party, sex, and age group we see that Democrats were more likely to vote absentee than Republicans and women more so than men. Although there were some variations among the subgroups these general trends are fairly robust. The results for age groups were mixed in that the emphasis on both young voters (the 18-24 group) and older voters (the 65 & Over group) resulted in these two groups having the highest average percentages of absentee voting during the period. Nevertheless, because the turnout percentage of the 18-24 group was generally low, the proportion of this group among all absentee voters was still low. The results also showed the effect of GOTV efforts on the part of the parties and campaigns. The greater emphasis on absentee voting in presidential years was evident in the greater percentage of such votes compared to midterm elections.
Keywords
- Iowa,
- voting,
- voter turnout,
- absentee voting,
- early voting
Disciplines
Publication Date
May 29, 2023
Citation Information
Timothy M. Hagle. "Iowa Voting Series, Paper 6: An Examination of Iowa Absentee Voting Since 1988" Iowa Voting Series (2023) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/timothy_hagle/89/
Creative Commons License
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