Question

What will be the outcome for those who buy votes?

Answer 1

Vote-buying, a widespread electoral practice in many low- and middle-income countries, may undermine the accountability of elected officials, especially to the needs of low-income individuals. To diminish the effect of bribes on voter behavior, researchers designed and evaluated a non-partisan anti-vote-buying radio campaign during the 2014 Indian general election. Researchers assessed whether voters in areas that were randomly assigned to receive the radio campaign became less likely to vote for the reputed vote-buying parties. Researchers found that the radio campaign decreased the vote share of vote-buying parties by 3.5 to 7.1 percentage points.