If you can keep it

With turnout consistently hovering far below peer democracies, we should ask: Why are millions of eligible voters disengaged? And critically, what does the evidence say about whether certain reforms bolster electoral participation?

Electoral systems have a powerful impact on voter turnout. Said differently, winner-take-all depresses electoral competition. And, if you look across different elections, voter turnout is closely tied to electoral competition. Why bother turning out if outcomes appear to be forgone conclusions?

Proportional systems produce higher turnout rates
Proportional representation — the main alternative to winner-take-all — dependably produces higher turnout rates. Unlike winner-take-all, proportional systems use multi-member districts and allocate legislative seats based on the proportion of votes each party receives.