“How political disagreement with our neighbors relates to whether we bother casting a ballot”

Key points

• Study analyzes how riding-level opinion differences correlate with voting likelihood.
• High similarity to riding average predicts 83% turnout; extreme difference 63%.
• Moderate differences yield the highest turnout at 90% in predictions.
• Riding-level differences persist after accounting for age, income, and race closeness.
• Results suggest healthy democracy depends on manageable, not eliminated, disagreement.