Voter fatigue explained

In political science, voter fatigue is a cause of voter abstention which result from the electorates of representative democracies being asked to vote often, on too many issues or without easy access to relevant information.^[1] Voter fatigue can be a symptom of efforts that make voting more difficult that some describe as voter suppression, which changes the voting rules and environment in such a way that turnout decreases as the cost of voting increases.

Causes

According to the traditional understanding of the concept, voter fatigue arises when citizens are asked to vote frequently or fill out lengthy ballots.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} Voter fatigue can be contributed to by a psychological phenomenon known as decision fatigue. As this suggests, our brain becomes mentally fatigued after making numerous decisions, so it will attempt to make shortcuts to decrease the workload. As decision fatigue increases, more voters abstain.^[6] This can result in lower voter turnout rates.

The process of voting can also be confusing or challenging. In the U.S., the Cost of Voting Index estimates how difficult it is to vote (and register to vote) in each state.^{[7] [8]} The index doesn't include other challenges like voter roll purges^[9] or such if signature verification standards are so strict that they throw out many more valid votes than invalid ones, with some states requiring residents to 'cure' their ballots by re-signing.^{[10] [11] [12]}

Combating voter fatigue

Some of the methods proposed to combat voter fatigue include:

• Consolidate the number of elections, especially off-year elections.^{[1] [13] [14] [15]}
• Guard against long and complex ballots.
• Use sortition (e.g. citizens' juries) instead of elections for some decisions.^[16]
• Make voting easier,^[17] including the process of finding civic information.^[18]
• Experiment with incorporating aspects of E-democracy, proxy voting and delegated voting.

Examples

In the run-up to the 2019 UK General Election, it was suggested by some media outlets that the electorate might be altered by abstention from voter fatigue from the third General Election in little over 4 years, having seen one in 2015 and the snap election of 2017, either side of the 2016 EU Membership Referendum.^[19]

In Israel, five snap elections from 2019-2022 has led to concerns about voter fatigue.^[20]

Amid the 2021–present Bulgarian political crisis, reports by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,^[21] Balkan Insight,^[22] and Euronews^[23] described the voter fatigue faced by Bulgarian voters having to vote six times in three years.

See also

• Donor fatigue, increased apathy about giving to charitable or humanitarian causes
• Political apathy

Notes and References

1. Election Frequency and Voter Turnout. Filip. Kostelka. Eva. Krejcova. Nicolas. Sauger. Alexander. Wuttke. June 1, 2023. Comparative Political Studies. 10.1177/00104140231169020. 259062350 .
2. Seib . J. Drew . 2016-09-01 . Coping with lengthy ballots . Electoral Studies . en . 43 . 115–123 . 10.1016/j.electstud.2016.05.011 . 0261-3794 . free.
3. Web site: Demsas . Jerusalem . 2023-08-21 . Americans Vote Too Much . 2023-09-21 . The Atlantic . en.
4. Garmann . Sebastian . March 2017 . Election frequency, choice fatigue, and voter turnout . European Journal of Political Economy . en . 47 . 19–35 . 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.12.003.
5. Rallings . C. . Thrasher . M. . Borisyuk . G. . March 2003 . Seasonal factors, voter fatigue and the costs of voting . Electoral Studies . en . 22 . 1 . 65–79 . 10.1016/S0261-3794(01)00047-6.
6. Augenblick . Ned . Nicholson . Scott . December 2015 . Ballot Position, Choice Fatigue, and Voter Behaviour . The Review of Economic Studies . en . 83 . 2 . 460–480 . 10.1093/restud/rdv047 . 0034-6527. 10.1093/restud/rdv047 . free .
7. Schraufnagel . Scot . Pomante . Michael J. . Li . Quan . 2022-09-01 . Cost of Voting in the American States: 2022* . Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy . en . 21 . 3 . 220–228 . 10.1089/elj.2022.0041 . 1533-1296 . free.
8. News: Corasaniti . Nick . McCann . Allison . 2022-09-20 . The 'Cost' of Voting in America: A Look at Where It's Easiest and Hardest . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-01-05 . 0362-4331.
9. Web site: 20 July 2018 . Voter Purges Brennan Center for Justice . 2023-01-08 . www.brennancenter.org . en.
10. Book: Litt, David . Democracy in one book or less: how it works, why it doesn't, and why fixing it is easier than you think . 2020 . 978-0-06-287936-3 . First . New York, NY . 1120147424.
11. Web site: Graham . David A. . 2020-10-21 . Signed, Sealed, Delivered—Then Discarded . 2023-01-08 . The Atlantic . en.
12. Web site: Justin Levitt, Wendy R. Weiser, and Ana Muñoz . March 24, 2006 . Making the List: Database Matching and Verification Processes for Voter Registration .
13. Web site: Demsas . Jerusalem . 2023-08-21 . Americans Vote Too Much . 2023-09-21 . The Atlantic . en.
14. Web site: Hersh . Eitan . 2015-11-03 . How Democrats Suppress The Vote . 2023-09-21 . FiveThirtyEight . en-US.
15. Anzia . Sarah F. . 2011-04-01 . Election Timing and the Electoral Influence of Interest Groups . The Journal of Politics . 73 . 2 . 412–427 . 10.1017/S0022381611000028 . 0022-3816.
16. News: Anthony . Andrew . 2016-07-18 . Against Elections: The Case for Democracy by David Van Reybrouck – review . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-09-21 . 0261-3077.
17. Web site: Ali . Shirin . 2022-09-28 . These are the most difficult states to vote in . 2023-01-06 . The Hill . en-US.
18. Book: Rusch, Elizabeth . You call this democracy? : how to fix our government and deliver power to the people . 2020 . 978-0-358-17692-3 . Boston . 1124772479.
19. News: Proctor . Katie . 2019-10-26 . Voters' disillusionment renders expected election tough to call . en-GB . The Guardian . 2019-12-17 . 0261-3077.
20. Web site: Kavaler . Tara . 23 March 2021 . A Quiet Election Day in Israel as Voter Fatigue Dampens Turnout . 2 July 2022 . The Media Line.
21. Web site: Despite free and competitive voting, Bulgaria’s elections marred by voter fatigue, record low turnout . Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe . Council of Europe . 1 October 2024 . 10 June 2024.
22. News: Todorov . Svestoslav . Bulgaria Heads to Seventh Election Amid Voter Fatigue . 1 October 2024 . Balkan Insight . 5 August 2024.
23. News: Skujins . Angela . Yet another election in Bulgaria sparks more political soul-searching . 1 October 2024 . euronews . AP . 13 June 2024 . en.