Determinants of Chilean youth voter registration: Evidence for the Bio Bio region

Youth voter registration is a worldwide phenomenon that exhibits a marked decline over the last two decades. On this basis, this article presents evidence regarding those factors that determine the voter registration of Chilean youth, in particular, the inhabitants of Bio Bio region. The methodology uses a linear model, proposed by Silberman and Durden (1975), which considers a relationship between voter registration and several social/economic variables. The model is estimated using a dynamic panel for the Bio Bio region, which includes its 54 communes and 10 planning territories for the years 2003 and 2009. The results indicate that, at commune level, the main determinants of youth voter registration are citizen participation and poverty rates, while ethnic aspects are also affecting female voter registration, and only citizen participation rate has some influence over male voter registration. Finally, at territory level, the results show that citizen participation rate is a cross determinant of youth voter registration in the Bio Bio region.