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7.1.D. - Page 31 <br /> The percent voting in each election is highly correlated with every other election, which is of <br /> course not surprising. What is somewhat surprising is that age is negatively correlated with <br /> percent voting for each election except the g12, when it is essentially uncorrelated. This <br /> indicates that the g12 election is different. One of the differences can be seen in Table V, where <br /> the number of new registrants is much higher(over double) than any other year. Since the <br /> difference in turnout between permanent and non-permanent absentee voters is at its lowest in <br /> the g12 election, and most of the non-permanent absentee voters voted at the polls, an election <br /> conducted by absentee ballot only would likely disenfranchise many of these voters. It seems <br /> likely, then, that all-absentee elections should not be conducted when there are large numbers of <br /> new registered voters, as these voters will probably have not mastered the intricacies of applying <br /> for an absentee ballot. <br /> Finally, it should be noted that Davis is a college community with a relatively high level of <br /> educational achievement and higher than average income. These attributes are associated with <br /> the ability to handle bureaucratic features of modern life, of which voting absentee is one. In <br /> particular, conclusions on the efficacy of purely vote-by-mail elections for other, less affluent <br /> and educated areas, should not be based on this analysis. A cautionary note on that claim can be <br /> seen in Kousser and Mullin's "Does Voting by Mail Increase Participation? Using Matching to <br /> Analyze a Natural Experiment", which demonstrates that in general, one does not expect an <br /> increase in participation by conducting vote-by-mail elections'. <br /> 1 ibid <br /> 25 <br />