Replication data for: Pivotality and Turnout: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Aftermath of a Tied Election

Many democratic citizens habitually abstain from the political process, and the reasons for this abstention are of great interest to scholars, campaigns, activists, and policymakers. Most social scientists and political pundits assume that greater electoral competition and the increased chance of pivotality will motivate citizens to turn out to the polls. We test this hypothesis through a large-scale field experiment which exploits the rare opportunity of a tied election for major political office. Informing citizens that an upcoming election will be close has little mobilizing effect. To the extent that we do detect an effect of pivotaltiy on turnout, it is concentrated among a small set of frequent voters. Our evidence suggests that increased electoral competition, by itself, is not a solution to low turnout, and the predominant models of turnout which focus on pivotality are of little practical use.