The following is an extract from our short explainer “Things You Might Not Know About Elections.” You can find the entire explainer here: https://cffad.org/things-you-might-not-know-about-elections/
Last week, we introduced the idea of universal voting rights. This week, we will begin a review of some of the obstacles to universal voting that will always need the vigilant attention of all citizens.
The legal right to vote is made meaningless if voting is intentionally made difficult in practice. The issue has three main dimensions: bureaucracy, distance, and time.
Bureaucracy: Few people will tolerate expensive, time-consuming, or complicated voting procedures. Voter registration establishes the eligibility of individuals to vote. Some countries automatically register their citizens, some require citizens to register themselves, and some, like the U.S., treat it as optional. Registration is one of the electoral process’s more costly, time-consuming, and complex aspects. It often accounts for a considerable portion of an election management authority’s budget, staff time, and resources. If conducted well, voter registration confers legitimacy to the process. Legitimacy is reduced if registration is made too complicated or expensive or if people disagree on who should be included. Poll taxes, banned under the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964), added to the expense of voter registration. The 1965 Voting Rights Act banned literacy tests and other barriers to registration.
Distance: Ideally, no voter should have to travel far to register or cast a vote.
- By mail: Voting by mail, from home, eliminates the problem of distance for nearly everyone. As of 2022, eight states allow all voters to vote by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington. Two states, Nebraska and North Dakota, allow counties to opt into conducting elections by mail. Nine states allow specific small elections to be conducted by mail: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Four states have all-mail elections for certain small jurisdictions: Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New Mexico.
Should a voter be required to pay for postage to return their ballot? Most states allow for ballot drop boxes that do not require postage. Some people argue that requiring a voter to pay the postage is similar to a poll tax. Others argue that a stamp is probably cheaper than the gas used to drive to a polling place.
- In-person: In those states that still vote mainly at polling places, there are often minimum standards for the number of voters per voting precinct and the location of drop-boxes and “vote anywhere” voting centers.
| Voting Center Pros and Cons. The introduction of voting centers is one of the reasons why the number of polling places is falling in some states. Voting centers are an alternative to traditional, neighborhood-based precincts. The main advantage to voters is that they can cast their ballots on Election date at any vote center in the jurisdiction (but not in the state) regardless of their home address. The advantage to the elections administration is cost savings: one voting center typically replaces many polling places. The downside to voters is that there are fewer places to vote, meaning some people will have to travel further than before, and face larger crowds and longer wait-times. The disadvantages to elections administrations come mainly from the challenges of verifying voter eligibility at any location, sharing voter participation with all locations so no one can vote twice, and being able to producing custom-made ballots on-the-spot: voter A will need a ballot with school board candidates that differ from those needed by voter B. As of 2022, eighteen states allow jurisdictions to use vote centers on Election Day: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa (for some elections), Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Learn more here: https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/vote-centers |
Voters may wish to be wary: data from the Election Assistance Commission shows the number of polling places has been dropping in almost every state for many years. This trend risks turning off some voters due to increased travel times, crowding, and longer wait times.
Practical questions about in-person voting quickly arise. For example, what about people with disabilities who cannot travel to a polling place or voting center or who cannot use a voting machine? Many states have laws requiring accommodations for disabled people, including those who cannot travel to a voting booth. In addition, the federal Help American Vote Act (2002) requires that each polling place have a device allowing a disabled person to cast their ballot privately and independently.
- Election officials and policy-makers also have to make determinations on how to handle voters without specific residences, such as homeless or indigenous peoples living on reservations or voters who live overseas. This is true regardless of whether voting is by mail or in-person.
Time: A Bipartisan Policy Center study showed that in 2018, the vast majority of voters waited fewer than 30 minutes to vote although outcomes varied substantially by state and by voting precincts. Long wait times occurred most often in precincts with high minority populations, high population density, and low incomes. This may be partly due to the nature of state regulations: in most states, the voting hours and early voting provisions are mandated by state law, and cannot vary among local jurisdictions. Where allowed, some jurisdictions allow their polling places to stay open longer than other jurisdictions. Others allow early voting. Other options include scheduling elections on holidays or making election day a holiday. Time and distance can interact, too. Increasing the number of polling places so people don’t have to travel far can also reduce the time voters wait to cast their ballots. Increasing the number of polling stations within a voting location can also reduce waiting times. All of these methods use the administrative power of the state to enhance the quality of the state’s elections. Local election authorities often take the lead in implementing many of these solutions.
Racialized voter suppression: Historically, bureaucracy, distance, and time have all been used in more than a few states to make voting harder for people of color. The situation improved with the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) banning poll tax barriers to voting and the 1965 Voting Rights Act banning literacy tests and other barriers.
At issue is whether racialized discrimination in voting still exists and requires federal oversight. Supreme Court decisions have modified some aspects of the Voting Rights Act. The most recent was Shelby County v. Holder in 2013.
The evidence is clear that voter turnout rates for any single election are typically worst in locations where procedures are complicated, where people must travel long distances to polling places, and where wait times are also long – places where intentional or unintentional voter discrimination is more likely.
Yet, in some years, many voters considered some elections so important that they were willing to put up with some hassles. The 2020 election, for example, saw a much higher turnout rate than the 2016 election, even in states that reduced the number of polling places or did not allow vote-by-mail or early voting. (All states saw increased turnout rates that year.)
The main takeaway from this post is that trust in elections can be increased through attention to bureaucracy, distance, and time.
Next week, the secret ballot!
If you want to learn more about elections, we have a 9-part course, each part is a 20-minute read. Easy! Click here: https://cffad.org/things-you-might-not-know-about-elections/
