Examining Tension Between Electoral Changes and Ballot Access for Black Voters

• In Event: Race, Voter Suppression, and Institutions’ Impact on Voters and Outcomes

Abstract

Given the historic tension between changes in voting procedures and state sponsored voter suppression, efforts to reform or expand voting options can sometimes, regardless of electoral context, be met with skepticism and opposition by voters and legislators alike.

As part of an on-going effort to modernize voting systems to perhaps better fit the way people work and live, California now provides counties the option of adopting a new voting system, moving from polling places to vote centers, as part of the Voter’s Choice Act. In total, fifteen California counties conducted elections under the Voter’s Choice Act in 2020, approximately half the state’s current registered voter population. New to the 2020 general election, the state also mailed every registered voter a vote-by-mail ballot as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using survey and focus group data, we examine reactions of Black voters to changes in California elections during the 2016 and 2020 election cycles. Specifically, this paper compares the level of trust in the integrity of the voting process in both elections and if the level of trust conditions whether voters choose to cast their ballot in person or vote-by-mail, and their attitudes toward proposed changes in voting procedures.

We found that a majority of Black voters expressed strong concerns about the intentions behind the proposed changes in 2018 and 2020, including suspicions that changes could be a means of voter suppression, and concerns that this change could make voting less accessible for Black communities in California. Our findings suggest the content and delivery of outreach messages involving changes to a voting system matter for how Black voters react to deeply held concerns.

Authors

• Mindy Romero, USC

• Shakari Byerly, University of California, Los Angeles