Journal of Electoral Studies

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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 Voting Decision and Election Prediction

Voting Decision and Election Prediction

Shing-Yuan Sheng
1998 / 05
Volume 5, No.1

pp.37-75
Paper

Abstract

This paper examines the process of voters' voting decision and develops a way of predicting voters' voting decision. Most surveys on election prediction are based on respondents' answers on their vote choices. However, this paper indicates two serious problems in this way of election prediction. One problem comes from the indecision of most voters, and the other problems comes from measurement errors. To deal with this problem, this paper provides a way of estimating each voter's probabilities of voting for each candidiate. The author indicates that the probability of voting for a particular candidate is not 0, neither is 1. Instead, the probability of voting for a particular candidate ranges from 0 to 1. The author bases on four major variables--candidate evaluations, party identification, incumbent government satisfaction, and ethnicity-- to construct a vote choice model, and estimates the model by way of a multinomial logit model. Then, the author calculates individual voters' probabilities of voting for each of the candidates. The research finding shows that the chance of voting for a particular candidate is large if a voter has a high probability of voting for the candidate. Based on this principle, the paper predicts the outcomes of four elections and two of them are quite accurate.

Keywords

Voting decision

Voting behavior

Election forecast

Multinomial logit model