Despite being one of the cornerstone activities of a democracy, not everybody in the United States can, or will, vote. Even those who do turn out to vote may not vote in all races on the ballot. The concept of ballot roll-off (i.e., not completing one’s ballot) has received less attention from political scientists than turnout. Roll-off often happens in low-profile elections where voters do not have enough information to decide. Additionally, perhaps this practice is not too surprising given that many voters need to be motivated by someone or something to turn out to the polls. Labor unions are one notable turnout mobilizer. They spend considerable resources socializing and encouraging their members to vote. Since they train their members to be more civically engaged, it raises the question of whether these efforts go beyond merely turnout and translate to voting down-ballot. Using data from the Cooperative Election Study, I found that union members and union household members are not more likely to vote in United States House of Representatives or Senate elections. When testing gubernatorial elections, I found that union members are less likely to vote than non-members.
