Participation

• For example, the Republican primaries in Iowa on January 15 were held in very cold temperatures (subzero wind chills and a blizzard).
• The Republican primaries were held not only on a cold day, but on a working Monday.
• We analysed data from thousands of elections across the globe to find out.
• Read more:
  Nigeria had 93 million registered voters, but only a quarter voted: 5 reasons why

What’s the most popular day to hold an election?

• The first thing we can assess is which day of the week most global elections are held.
• The graph shows, in general, voting takes place on weekends (more than 60% of elections), with Sunday being the preferred day.
• We could also examine how many countries choose a given day of the week to hold their elections.

How does that affect voter turnout?

• However, when the analysis was expanded to 63 countries, the day of the election did not seem to affect participation.
• As the graph above shows, the median voter turnout is around 70% for every day of the week.
• Therefore, it does not appear that the day on which the election is held is related to the level of participation.

Why does this matter?

• In some countries, wealthier voters tend to show higher participation rates than poorer voters.
• This is a pattern that has been identified in the United States and Europe but not necessarily in other countries such as India or Indonesia.
• Participation is strategically used by political parties promoting (or disincentivising) voting in different ways and to differing extents.
• In a year when more than half the world’s population will vote in a national election, it’s worth including data in the global discussion.

Ferran Martinez i Coma receives funding from Australian Research Council DP190101978. Diego Leiva does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.