Special Populations, Special Challenges

Abstract

As noted in Chap. 5, only about half of all eligible US citizens vote regularly (Uhlaner & Scola, 2016). Perhaps even more troubling than America's modest voter turnout is that not all groups are equally represented. In addition to people of color and people in poverty (discussed earlier), immigrants and linguistic minorities, people experiencing homelessness, citizens with felony convictions, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and survivors of domestic violence also experience significant barriers that prevent them from fully and freely exercising their right to vote. This chapter describes the barriers that these populations face and offers potential strategies to increase their participation in the electoral process. Because people of color and people in poverty were discussed at some length in Chap. 5 and are again discussed in Chap. 7, we present only brief summaries of the challenges they face in the next section.

Overcoming Barriers to Voter Mobilization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of St. Louis, Missouri

“…Communities of color, on average, have lower socio-economic status and vote less often (Rome, 2022a;U.S. Census Bureau, 2019).…”

Race, poverty and unemployment as quantitative predictors of voter turnout in St. Louis amidst COVID-19 and a racial justice movement

“…Structural barriers to voting and policies intended to disenfranchise voters have been highly effective in reducing voter turnout in communities of color, poverty-impacted neighborhoods, and the under and unemployed (Burden and Wichowsky, 2014; Michener, 2016; Portillo et al. , 2021; Rome, 2022a). However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the revitalized racial justice movement shifted the cultural and political environment for the 2020 election.…”

“…Previous research has demonstrated that there is a statistically significant relationship between voter turnout and the variables of race, poverty rates, and unemployment rates in the United States (Arceneaux and Nickerson, 2009;Burden and Wichowsky, 2014;Combs, 2016;Matsubayashi and Sakaiya, 2021;Rosenstone, 1982). Structural barriers to voting and policies intended to disenfranchise voters have been highly effective in reducing voter turnout in communities of color, poverty-impacted neighborhoods, and the under and unemployed (Burden and Wichowsky, 2014;Michener, 2016;Portillo et al, 2021;Rome, 2022a). However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the revitalized racial justice movement shifted the cultural and political environment for the 2020 election.…”