More Than Just Yard Decorations : Campaign Signs as a Predictor of Election Results and Voter Turnout for the 2012 Presidential Election in the City of Eau Claire, WI

Abstract

One of the most common types of political advertisements is yard signs advocating for a particular candidate. By using a GPS unit to collect the location of the signs, if a neighborhood has more for one candidate than the other, it is a reasonable assertion that area will vote for the candidate that has the most signs. Additionally, it is another safe assumption that the people who display these yard signs are more politically active than those who choose not to display signs. So, by deduction, these neighborhoods that have a higher concentration of campaign signs should also have higher voter turnout percentages than those neighborhoods where fewer signs are found. The purpose of this study was to prove that political yard signs can influence the outcome of the 2012 presidential election in certain wards within the city of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.