Data and Code for: Voter Turnout and Preference Aggregation

We study how voter turnout affects the aggregation of preferences inelections. Under voluntary voting, election outcomes disproportionatelyaggregate the preferences of voters with low voting cost and high preferenceintensity. We show identification of the correlation structure amongpreferences, costs, and perceptions of voting efficacy, and explore how thecorrelation affects preference aggregation. Using 2004 U.S. presidentialelection data, we find that young, low-income, less-educated, and minorityvoters are underrepresented. All of these groups tend to prefer Democrats,except for the less-educated. Democrats would have won the majority of theelectoral votes if all eligible voters had turned out.