Who would vote if they did not have to? The role of interest in politics in voter turnout in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Introduction:  The article explores the potential effects of sociodemographic characteristics on voter turnout in a scenario where voting was not compulsory in Brazil. Despite some sociodemographic differences, the main factor associated with the propensity to attend elections is attitudinal: interest in politics.

Materials and Methods:  I used data from the Brazilian Electoral Study (waves from 2014 and 2018) and show, though logistic regression, the effects of the variables gender, race, age, education, interest in politics, attitude towards democracy over willingness to vote.

Results:  In the two models tested, only one demographic segment presents a markedly greater propensity to attend voting: people over 70 years old. Two attitudinal variables are strongly related to probability in attending elections: level of democracy support, and more significantly, degree of interest in politics.

Discussion:  The research shows that attitudinal factors are more relevant than classic sociological ones (always highlighted by literature about electoral inequality) on elector’s willingness to attend voting.

Keywords voter turnout; electoral inequality; compulsory vote; interest in politics; Brazilian electoral study