Spanish-Language Materials and the Voting Experience

• In Event: Mobilization, Civic Engagement, and Resilience

Abstract

How much does the provision of pre-election materials in a voter’s native language affect a voter’s experience at the polls? There is little scholarship on the implementation and initial use, much less the effects, of non-English voting materials in the American states. Our study leverages a naturally occurring experiment in Florida. Prior to the 2018 General Election, a federal court ordered 32 of Florida’s 67 counties to provide voting materials—except the actual ballot—in Spanish. Given the possible marginalization of non-English speakers in the voting process, we argue that the court’s mandate had a positive impact on the political efficacy, trust, and turnout of Hispanics—and more specifically, Puerto Ricans and naturalized citizens born in Latin American countries—in the 32 targeted counties, compared with matched registered voters in the state’s counties not required to provide Spanish-language materials. Drawing on an original survey of over 1,800 Hispanic and non-Hispanic registered voters in Florida asking about their exposure to pre-election ballot materials and their voting experience in 2018, and linking respondents with official registered voter demographics and turnout records, we find that the implementation of Spanish-language pre-election materials had a small, but significant effect on an individual’s experience at the polls and likelihood to turn out to vote.

Author

• Brandi Martinez, University of Florida