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Voter ‘report cards’ draw backlash

Some express annoyance

Are you a “below average” voter? Or are you “excellent?”

You may have been slapped with one of those labels in a “voter report card” that was mailed to 446,000 Massachusetts voters last week, much to the annoyance of many who received less-than-exemplary civic rankings.

The “report cards” (just uttering the words can revive feelings of dread from elementary school) were sent by America Votes, a liberal Washington-based group that aims to increase voter turnout on Tuesday.

The cards compare the recipient’s voting record in the past four elections to the average for the neighborhood. Those with solid records are rated “excellent” and receive three stars; “good” voters get two stars; and “below average” voters get no stars.

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“It felt as if I was being shamed into voting by a group of individuals I did not know,” said Siân Gaetano, a 30-year-old editorial assistant from Brighton, who received a report card deeming her a “below average” voter.

Gaetano said she believes the cards will backfire, and make people less likely to cast ballots on Tuesday.

Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said the office has received a handful of complaints about the mailers, including some from new citizens who received poor grades for missing elections before they were naturalized and earned the right to vote.

The report cards are also based on records for voters’ current addresses only, meaning those who moved in recent years are not given credit for voting at their previous addresses.

“People certainly find it offensive,” McNiff said. “I can’t see it as an effective tool, and I’d definitely be in the annoyed category if I got one.”

But there is nothing the secretary of state’s office can do, he said, because voting histories are public records — used by campaigns all the time to target mailers to reliable voters and ignore those with poor voting histories.

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Liz Accola, a spokeswoman for America Votes, said the organization mailed report cards to voters across the country, targeting in particular those who missed past elections.

The group receives financial support from unions, abortion rights groups, and liberal organizations, which are trying to increase turnout among young women, Latinos and African-Americans who historically skip midterm elections.

“We’ve gotten some negative feedback,” Accola said. “People are certainly caught off guard and surprised that this information is publicly available, but the intention of this is to engage people and encourage them to turn out on Election Day.”

The cards read: “All citizens should have a voice in their government. Our democracy works best when everyone is a voter — including you. That’s why we’ve selected you for this important research project. In the future, we hope to send you an updated Voter Report Card before each election.”

Todd Rogers, a behavioral scientist at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, said the cards are grounded in 15 years of social science research that shows that comparing people’s voting records to their neighbors’ is one of the most effective means of motivating people.

“People are more motivated to vote when they believe others are voting, and vote more than them,” said Rogers, who has conducted research in the field. Whether it’s mailers that compare recycling rates, energy use, or voting records, “the underlying psychology is, we conform to the behavior of others,” he said.

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Research also shows that simply referring to people as “voters” — which the report card does multiple times — increases their likelihood of casting a ballot, Rogers said.

And while many have been irked by the cards, some have been pleased to receive a good grade in the mail.

“I thought it was kind of cool,” said Michael Walker, a teacher from Minneapolis, who received a card deeming him an “excellent” voter. “Civic engagement is important to me.”


Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@ globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mlevenson.