Monday, July 21, 2008

Your Vote Reflects Your Polling Place

Via Andrew Sullivan comes this interesting tidbit about the effect polling places have on voter behavior:
Jonah Berger, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of Business, conducted a terrific study where he demonstrates that where people vote affects how they vote. Essentially, people whose voting booth is located in a church are more likely to put more weight into social issues, people voting in fire houses care more about safety, and people voting in a school tend to put more weight on things like education.
Which makes me wonder: what does it mean if my polling place is a wallpaper store? Am I more likely to choose candidates who are aesthetically pleasing? Or whose names look nice printed on the ballot?

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