Structural Processes that Lead to Voter Disenfranchisement
Major
Criminal Justice
Anticipated Graduation Year
senior
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
This research examined how different populations are disenfranchised by systemic voting policies. Populations such as immigrants, people of color, incarcerated and unhoused individuals are often left out of the conversation when it comes to having a say in their communities as a result of not fitting a specific criteria to vote. Additionally, oftentimes many people in these marginalized communities and outside are eligible to vote but are either not registered or simply to not vote. This research heavily utilizes Census data from 2020 to analyze which demographic is voting and then further cross referencing it with topics such as guardianship, ID and mailing laws to conclude how barriers are set up in different communities. This research is meant to expand on the topic voting barriers as there is a multitude already focused on post conviction and currently incarcerated individuals by exploring other vulnerable populations. The research concludes by drawing results on intersectional identities and the use of systemic policies, and how different legislation and organizations are beginning to address changing these in order to make the ballot more equitable and accessible.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Aram SiFuentes
Supported By
CURL
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Structural Processes that Lead to Voter Disenfranchisement
This research examined how different populations are disenfranchised by systemic voting policies. Populations such as immigrants, people of color, incarcerated and unhoused individuals are often left out of the conversation when it comes to having a say in their communities as a result of not fitting a specific criteria to vote. Additionally, oftentimes many people in these marginalized communities and outside are eligible to vote but are either not registered or simply to not vote. This research heavily utilizes Census data from 2020 to analyze which demographic is voting and then further cross referencing it with topics such as guardianship, ID and mailing laws to conclude how barriers are set up in different communities. This research is meant to expand on the topic voting barriers as there is a multitude already focused on post conviction and currently incarcerated individuals by exploring other vulnerable populations. The research concludes by drawing results on intersectional identities and the use of systemic policies, and how different legislation and organizations are beginning to address changing these in order to make the ballot more equitable and accessible.
Comments
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vbgMHy58QbZy-Qlv2kjnGlhHluX1W01s9LKVgRem9zM/edit?usp=sharing