Getting Out the (Newly-Enfranchised) Vote: Encouraging Voter Registration After Rights Restoration
Name
PB_Final_Submission.pdf
Size
687.83 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
aa35fd79ef31e20ca9f7e208e8e890b9
Author(s)
White, Ariel
Walker, Hannah
Michelson, Melissa
Roth, Sam
Peloquin-Skulski, Gabrielle
Camilla, Diana
Valerio, Alarcón
Dias, Megan
Date Issued
June 18, 2025
Journal
Political Behavior
Publisher
Springer Nature
Citation
White, A., Walker, H.L., Michelson, M. et al. Getting Out the (Newly-Enfranchised) Vote: Encouraging Voter Registration After Rights Restoration. Polit Behav 48, 923–945 (2026).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Academic research describes low rates of political participation among people with criminal convictions, but offers few ideas about how to reach these low-propensity voters. After New Jersey expanded voting rights for this group in 2019, we partnered with a local organization (New Jersey Institute for Social Justice) to develop a strategy to encourage newly-enfranchised people to register and vote. Because little is known about mobilizing these voters, we used a multi-method approach to develop messaging which we then tested through a randomized controlled trial. After interviews highlighted the importance of trusted messengers, we worked with an organizer to craft an outreach message based on his own experiences of incarceration, incorporating themes from the interviews. The mailer informed by qualitative research boosted registration in the next election, outperforming a basic informational mailer. Our findings demonstrate that unlikely voters can still be reached with creative methods.
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-025-10055-1
