America's status at the bottom of international turnout rankings has shaped the study of voter turnout in the United States. Although it should be quite obvious that a single explanation for low turnout does not exist, researchers have devoted substantial attention to the role of institutions in structuring the rules regarding who registers and votes and the norms relating to whom the parties contact. Scholars and policy experts remain attracted to institutional reforms as solutions because of the collection of concerns that arise out of the decentralized nature of election administration in the United States, coupled with the tools available to make changes. After a review of the nature of these concerns, I highlight the flaws in the existing theoretical approach to the study of the effects of registration laws on voter turnout, discuss the methodological pitfalls that follow, and present a theoretical framework and research design that better reflect the complexities of political behavior in the contemporary United States.

OPPORTUNITY AND VOICE

In the United States, out of the roots of federalism, a sprawling election administration system has sprouted, with roughly 10,000 officials responsible for conducting elections at the state, county, and municipal levels. With the implementation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) and Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), the federal government brought a greater degree of standardization to the electoral process.