The Reverberating Effects of Voting Obstacles

• In Event: Voting Challenges

Abstract

The effects of voting obstacles are a topic of debate in scholarly work and a subject of dispute in political and legal arenas. Available analysis overwhelmingly approaches this topic with short-term data. That is, studying the effects of Voter I.D. requirements or polling place closures is accomplished chiefly by examining voter turnout immediately before and after the implementation of the policy. Here I broaden the obstacle effect question by tracing individual participation behavior over several election cycles. I find that voting hurdles have reverberating effects that are felt both directly (by dint of the immediate effect of the hurdle) and indirectly (by virtue of the lingering, habit-forming consequence of not voting in the past). I discuss the implications of this broader view of the effects of voting obstacles for scholarly understanding as well as for future debate in legislatures and courtrooms.

Author

• David Niven, University of Cincinnati