Technology
Voter Suppression Tactics and Their Impact on Turnout
Quick fact
A 2014 study found that strict voter ID laws in the United States reduced turnout by about 2 percentage points, with the greatest impact among racial and ethnic minorities and lower-income voters.
Why this is interesting
You waited in line for three hours to vote—would you do it again? Some Americans face lines like that because of where they live, while others vote in minutes. What explains the difference?
Read the full explanation
Understanding Voter Suppression Tactics and Their Impact on Turnout
Voting is a cost-benefit decision. Waiting in long lines, gathering paperwork, and traveling long distances are costs. Voter suppression tactics raise these costs, especially for people with less flexibility. Imagine voting as a hurdle race. Some runners have a clear track, while others face extra hurdles: they must bring a specific ID they don't have, their polling place moved, or they were mistakenly removed from the voter roll. Each extra hurdle makes it more likely a runner just gives up. That's how suppression works—it exploits small friction points to disproportionately discourage participation among certain groups.
A deeper explanation
The mechanism is rooted in the fact that voting requires effort, and any increase in effort reduces turnout. Voter ID laws impose acquiring a government-issued photo ID, which may require travel, fees, and time—especially burdensome for low-income and minority voters who are less likely to have such IDs. Voter roll purges use data-matching methods that sometimes flag eligible voters as ineligible, and those voters may not learn they are removed until Election Day. Polling place closures mean fewer locations, so lines grow and travel times shorten or lengthen—but research shows closures disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods, leading to longer waits and more people leaving. Felon disenfranchisement is a formal legal exclusion, but its impact is also concentrated among minority communities. These tactics cumulatively reduce turnout among targeted groups, tilting the electorate and influencing policy outcomes.