Chicago ? Could voting for president be hazardous to your health?

An analysis of Election Day traffic deaths dating back to Jimmy Carter’s 1976 win suggests yes, but the authors say that’s no reason not to go to the polls.

The study found that on average, 24 more people died in car crashes during voting hours on presidential election days than on other October and November Tuesdays. That amounts to an 18 percent increased risk of death. And compared with nonelection days, an additional 800 people suffered disabling injuries.

The results were pretty consistent on all eight presidential Election Days that were analyzed, up to George W. Bush’s victory over John Kerry in 2004.

“This is one of the most off-the-wall things I’ve ever read, but the science is good,” said Roy Lucke, senior scientist at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety. He was not involved in the study, which appears in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

Rushing to get to polling places before or after work, driving on unfamiliar routes, and being distracted by thinking about the candidates were among possible reasons cited by the study’s Canadian researchers, who claim about 1 million deaths worldwide each year, including about 41,059 last year in the United States, which has one of the highest traffic death rates among industrialized countries.

Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, called the study “a clever example of something that is commonly known in highway safety.”

She noted that schools often have Election Day off and stores sometimes have special sales, which both contribute to extra traffic.

The study’s co-author, Dr. Donald Redelmeier, said voters can easily avoid the risks by not speeding, wearing seat belts and avoiding alcohol use before driving to the polls and on the way home. Better traffic enforcement and setting up more polling places that voters can walk to are other solutions he suggested.