Does the weather impact voter turnout on Election Day?

Today’s the day for you to get out and voice your vote! It’ll be cool and cloudy, but could our forecast impact the number of people who hit the polls today?

Some studies have suggested that there is a connection between weather and voter turnout - let’s look into the numbers to see how true this is.

One professor at Dartmouth said that “bad” weather can result in lower voter turnout as the psychological and social cost is higher.

The same professor found that one inch of rain above the normal rain totals for that day can decrease voter turnout up to 1%. That doesn’t sound like a lot, and it really isn’t.

While some studies have found rain and wet weather in general to negatively impact voter turnout, others have found that there’s not a significant connection, especially with absentee and early in-person voting as an option.

Researchers have also found temperatures to play a role in how many people head out to the polls. For every degree warmer the temperature is, voter turnout was found to increase by 0.08% which is still less than a tenth of 1%.

With numbers this small, we can draw the conclusion that the weather doesn’t have a significant impact on turnout at the polls unless the temperature and rain differences-from-normal are extreme.