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ehrnst

(32,640 posts)
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 08:06 AM Oct 2018

Low voter turnout is no accident, according to a ranking of the ease of voting in all 50 states



To create the index, the researchers collected data on 33 types of election laws that generally fell into seven different categories: voter-registration deadlines, restrictions on registrations and registration drives, preregistration laws that allow people under 18 to register in advance of their first elections, laws governing ease of voting (like early and absentee voting), voter ID requirements and polling hours.

They mashed each of these qualitative factors together in a statistical blender to create a top-line summary number of the ease of voting and registration in each state. For the 2016 election, states are ranked according to their position in this index in the map above.

What sort of effect do these laws have on voter turnout? Some quick calculations suggest that the effect is potentially quite large: The five most restrictive states had turnouts in 2016 that were, on average, nearly nine percentage points lower than turnout in the five easiest states to vote in. If we plot the Cost of Voting Index rank against 2016 turnout, it looks like this.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/22/low-voter-turnout-is-no-accident-according-ranking-ease-voting-all-states/

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Low voter turnout is no accident, according to a ranking of the ease of voting in all 50 states (Original Post) ehrnst Oct 2018 OP
always makes sense, you make it harder to vote so people won't vote beachbum bob Oct 2018 #1
K&R for visibility. nt tblue37 Oct 2018 #2
I don't know... BumRushDaShow Oct 2018 #3
Mississippi is 50th Botany Oct 2018 #4
I don't understand how WA is so high... Wounded Bear Oct 2018 #5
Yes, because people should vote only if it is easy to do so. nt JayhawkSD Oct 2018 #6
North Dakota at #4? BadgerMom Oct 2018 #7
Yup! 2naSalit Oct 2018 #8
We vote by mail here in Oregon. We get our ballots weeks ahead of voting day and have plenty jalan48 Oct 2018 #9
New Hampshire Sucks, And Yet.. osmium Oct 2018 #10
THIS !!! The states Clinton lost by 1% but was polling ahead were all RED STATES with Red State VSM! uponit7771 Oct 2018 #11
Yep. (nt) ehrnst Oct 2018 #12

BumRushDaShow

(129,096 posts)
3. I don't know...
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 08:33 AM
Oct 2018

Although it would be somewhat intuitive, some of their "corrections" seem kind of funky to try to explain away the outliers to their theory.

Here in PA, we have no early voting, no same-day registration, very restrictive absentee balloting, and IDs are required, at least if you are voting for the first time or voting at a new location for the first time. We actually had a 6% increase in turnout (about 373,000+) in 2016 when compared to 2012 despite being "ranked" in the bottom 3rd of their model.

Botany

(70,516 posts)
4. Mississippi is 50th
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 10:02 AM
Oct 2018

Gotta keep those black and brown people from voting.

"Mississippi has the highest percentage of black residents in the country—37 percent—and that share continues to grow as more African-Americans move south to retire. At the same time, the ratio of Latinos, though still small, has doubled from 2 to 4 percent of the population."

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/will-a-black-latino-alliance-in-mississippi-change-politics-in-the-deep-south/431808/


2naSalit

(86,647 posts)
8. Yup!
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 11:00 AM
Oct 2018

Not sure how this was conducted. Montana is in the middle and I find that interesting since we have easy to sign up for mail-in ballots and a good distribution of polling places. I suppose if they look at the Native American vote there are problems, both here and ND. R legislatures don't want Indians voting.

jalan48

(13,870 posts)
9. We vote by mail here in Oregon. We get our ballots weeks ahead of voting day and have plenty
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 11:02 AM
Oct 2018

of time to fill them out and send them in.

osmium

(94 posts)
10. New Hampshire Sucks, And Yet..
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 11:06 AM
Oct 2018

..Due to per capita affluence and that stupid "First in the nation" BS, people here still vote.

WaPo does a few things really well, and it's really few things.

That's a fabulous graphic. Thanks!

uponit7771

(90,347 posts)
11. THIS !!! The states Clinton lost by 1% but was polling ahead were all RED STATES with Red State VSM!
Wed Oct 24, 2018, 11:27 AM
Oct 2018
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