51СƳpolitical science duo Megan Lapointe and Brian Duff publish in ‘Portland Press Herald’ on using fitness class to encourage voting
On October 9, 2016, the Portland Press Herald published a “Maine Voices” piece by Megan Lapointe ’15 (Political Science), founder and director of the civic engagement advocacy organization Kick Punch Vote!, and Brian Duff, Ph.D., associate professor of political science.
The piece, titled “Fitness class can kick up voter numbers,” discussed a study conducted by Lapointe for her senior thesis on whether single women’s dedication to fitness classes could be used to encourage them to go to the voting booth.
According to the article, single women, who comprise half of all women and a quarter of the total population, “might be the most important voting bloc in the coming election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.”
The experiment, which was conducted during the 2014 midterm elections, examined the impact on voter turnout of two different approaches to voter encouragement during fitness class.
Lapointe's study concluded that prompts to vote during fitness class were effective in increasing voter turnout among unmarried women. The article stated: “Single women’s vote turnout can be significantly (even dramatically) increased if they encounter information and encouragement regarding citizenship and voting in the group they are often most dedicated to: their workout class.”
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