EDUCATION’S EFFECT ON VOTER TURNOUT: THE EFFECTS OF EDUCATIONAL VARIABLES ON COUNTIES AND STATES' VOTER TURNOUT DIFFERENCE FROM THE 2016 AND 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

Abstract

This study furthers the investigation of how educational factors affect voter turnout. Prior studies have proven educational factors such as gender to be an important factor in determining civic participation and, thus, voter turnout. However, the exact causal relationship between education level and voter turnout remains elusive. This study investigates these previously proven education factors in addition to systematic factors that affect educational attainment. By studying factors that affect education itself, the causal link between how education affects voter turnout is deconstructed at a deeper level than in previous studies. The results of the study found there to be causal links between socioeconomic factors and levels of graduation rates in determining voter turnout. These findings are crucial to understanding how structural issues such as unemployment and poverty levels affect education, an essential determinant of voter turnout.