Differences in Voter Turnout Across Diverse Asian Ethnic Groups in a Western Democracy: Findings from a New Zealand National Sample

Abstract

Many Western governments frame lower Asian voter turnout as a concern that impacts the quality of democracy and representation. However, there is limited evidence on how turnout varies across different ethnic groups under the ‘Asian’ classification, and what the correlates of turnout among Asian subgroups are. This study provides a comprehensive account of the demographic, socioeconomic, social, political, and psychological factors driving Asian voter turnout in an underexplored, Western English-speaking democracy (New Zealand). It uses the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 47,951), a national probability survey, to explore these differences in turnout for Asians (n = 2,445) in the 2017 national election. The analysis shows that Asian New Zealanders have a relatively low voter turnout and that their voting probabilities are significantly influenced by immigration status, social network, and political psychological factors. Furthermore, the results for different Asian ethnic groups can have different relationships between these factors and turnout compared to the Asian group at large. These findings highlight the importance of considering the needs of different Asian communities when developing policies and campaigns to boost their turnout in Western democracies.