Voting behavior experiment in Uttar Pradesh

Although in theory elections are supposed to prevent criminal or venal candidates from winning or retaining office, in practice voters frequently elect and reelect such candidates. The electoral performance of candidates who face serious allegations likely reflects factors other than voters’ preferences for patronage, such as limited information about the candidate characteristics or the absence of credible alternative candidates with clean records.

For assessing such voting preferences of voters, Morsel surveyed 2500 voters under the guidance of Gautam Nair. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved studying the factors that influence voting behavior or decision of a common man. This phase covered all the major districts of UP and completed before the elections, while the second stage was aimed to study the behavior of people post-election and It was concluded after the voting process completed and before the results were announced.