Location, knowledge and time pressures in the spatial structure of convenience voting

In this paper we examine the geography of convenience voting. We theorize that convenience voting is likely to be most common in neighborhoods where civic skills meet time pressures—generating a demand for early and no-excuse absentee balloting. For harried but politically sophisticated voters, these devices should be particularly valuable because they permit them to buy time. More specifically, we expect that those living within one mile of an early voting site are more likely to cast an early ballot than those who live further away. Using voter list data from Las Vegas and Albuquerque, we find evidence that voters living in neighborhoods full of time-pressured commuters are not only voting early, but may be spreading the word, generating a spatial effect that includes those who are nearby but may not face a high opportunity cost of time. We conclude by pointing out that the distinct geography of early voting has important implications for political campaigning: the geographic concentration of early voting in some locations but not others could narrow the playing field in the final days of the campaign to those locations comprised chiefly of precinct voters and non-voters.