Want people to vote? Use face-to-face canvassing. 

Do voter registration drives get more people to vote and if they do, what type of person do they encourage to vote?
 
Background
 
It is difficult to measure how much voter registration drives actually increase voter turnout.  The field experiment focused on city streets in six cities.  Streets in the cities were randomly assigned to receive visits from canvassers trying to register voters.  Researchers categorized the streets based on prior voter turnout.
 
Results

• Door-to-door canvassing caused around 11 new registrations on each street.
• Registration does pose a barrier to voting.
• The experiments were conducted across many different cities and elections so the results can be applied to a range of settings.
• Canvassing is estimated to increase voting in rich and poor neighborhoods equally.

 
Link to Study