Gender and Time of Voting Decision

Abstract

Scholars and the media have long been concerned about gender gaps in the political sphere. This study examines gender differences in decision certainty across the 2000 general election campaign. Results suggest that during the 2000 general election campaign, women were more likely to say that they did not know for whom they intended to vote when asked about their voting intentions. Once their intentions were declared, they were no less likely than men to express certainty about their decisions. Consistent with prior studies, partisanship and party identification play substantive as well as statistically significant role in the certainty of a person's vote choice.

Key Words:

• Gender gap
• time of vote decision
• decision certainty
• election 2000