The Effects of Voting Costs on the Democratic Process and Public Finances

AbstractIncreasing the attractiveness of voting is often seen as a remedy for unequal par- ticipation  and the influence of special-interest  groups on public policy.  However, lower voting costs may also bring less informed citizens to the poll inviting  efforts to sway these voters. We substantiate this argument in a probabilistic voting model with  campaign contributions.  In an empirical analysis for the 26 Swiss states, we find that lower voting costs due to postal voting are related to higher turnout, lower average education of participants, lower knowledge on the political issues they were deciding on as well as lower government welfare expenditures.