@article{21793b9509c346f5862f4ab90b67a0ea,
title = "Turnout and weather disruptions: Survey evidence from the 2012 presidential elections in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy",
abstract = "This paper examines the rational choice reasoning that is used to explain the correlation between low voter turnout and the disruptions caused by weather related phenomena in the United States. Using in-person as well as phone survey data collected in New York City where the damage and disruption caused by Hurricane Sandy varied by district and even by city blocks, we explore, more directly than one can with aggregate data, whether individuals who were more affected by the disruptions caused by Hurricane Sandy were more or less likely to vote in the 2012 Presidential Election that took place while voters still struggled with the devastation of the hurricane and unusually low temperatures. Contrary to the findings of other scholars who use aggregate data to examine similar questions, we find that there is no difference in the likelihood to vote between citizens who experienced greater discomfort and those who experienced no discomfort even in non-competitive districts. We theorize that this is in part due to the resilience to costs and higher levels of political engagement that vulnerable groups develop under certain institutional conditions.",
keywords = "Local institutions, Presidential elections, Turnout, United States, Voting behavior, Weather",
author = "Narayani Lasala-Blanco and Shapiro, {Robert Y.} and Viviana Rivera-Burgos",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank the Columbia Population Research Center and Robin Hood Foundation (RHF CU11-1145) for funding and for the survey data collection. In particular we thank Christopher Wimer, who promptly responded and helped us gain quick access to the data every time we needed to perform additional analysis. We are also grateful to Irwin Garfinkel, Julien Teitler and Jane Waldfogel. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments, the 2013 APSA panelists for their feedback and Shannon Schumacher, a doctoral student at UCSB for her invaluable assistance with the final version of the manuscript. Lasala-Blanco would like to thank the Columbia Population Research Center, especially Julien Teitler, for giving her the opportunity to participate in the data collection effort of the Robin Hood Project as a Project Manager from May of 2012 to February of 2013. A special thanks to the undergraduate students at Columbia University who participated in the in-person surveying and especially staff member Lily Bushman-Copp who played a key role in coordinating and interviewing in the Hurricane Sandy-affected areas. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "2017",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.electstud.2016.11.004",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "45",
pages = "141--152",
journal = "Electoral Studies",
issn = "0261-3794",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
}