Can We Reform Our Way to Higher.

This paper analyzes the relationship between electoral reform and change in voter registration and turnout rates in the American states. Using pooled cross-sections of state-level data, I assess the effects of various registration reforms on registration and turnout in national elections from 1972-2000. Earlier analyses that evaluated the potential impact of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) were based on a limited, pre-NVRA time-series ? as such, they suffered from two chronic weaknesses: 1). The sixteen (mostly southern) states that did not implement the NVRA until they were forced to in 1996 were omitted. 2). Lacking a sufficiently long time-series, previous work failed to capture the lag time between a state?s implementation of the motor-voter program and its effects on voter registration and turnout rates. By employing a more expansive time-series, this paper allows the effects of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act to be thoroughly investigated. Motor-voter and election-day registration exhibit a strong relationship with higher voter turnout, whereas mail-in registration and eased non-voting purge provisions do not. As a result, this analysis demonstrates more robust turnout gains due to the 1993 NVRA?s cost-reducing reforms than pre-NVRA forecasts suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]