School vote influenced by polling place

The Associated Press

Where you vote can influence how you vote.

A new analysis of the 2000 election in Arizona shows that people who cast ballots in schools were more likely to approve a tax increase for education than people who voted at other locations.

Researchers led by Jonah Berger of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, analyzed voting at each polling place in the state on a proposal to raise the state sales tax from 5.0 percent to 5.6 percent to provide more funding for education.

The tax increase was approved by 56.02 percent of people who voted at schools, compared with 53.99 percent of people who voted at locations such as churches and fire stations.

Wondering if a school’s condition had an influence, they also collected information on the age and condition of schools where voting was held, but they found no significant difference in voting patterns between those who voted at older or newer schools.

The findings are reported in this week’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.