Are All Precincts Created Equal

The Prevalence of Low-Quality Precincts in Low-Income and Minority Communities

Bibliographic Data

ID6340977
AuthorsMatt A Barreto (0000-0003-2423-6395, University of Washington, Seattle,), Mara Cohen-Marks (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California,), Nathan D Woods (0000-0001-8556-4769, Welch Consulting, Inc., Washington, D.C.)
Year2009
Volume62
Issue3
Pages445-458
Publication date2009-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Research Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1065912908319572
OpenAlexW2116264510
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited25

More than forty years after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a fundamental question remains unanswered: although all citizens have an equal right to the ballot, do all citizens enjoy equal access to the ballot box? That is, are voting precincts in predominantly low-income and non-white neighborhoods less visible, less stable, harder to find, and harder to navigate than voting precincts in high-income and predominantly white neighborhoods? If so, does the lower quality result in lower levels of voting, all other things equal? The authors’ analysis indicates that the quality of polling places varies across the diverse neighborhoods of Los Angeles and that the quality of polling places influences voter turnout. Low-income and minority communities tended to have “lower quality” precincts, which tended to depress voter turnout

Ballot · Demographic economics · Economics · Low income · Political science · Politics · Polling · Quality (philosophy · Turnout · Voter turnout · Voting · White (mutation · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Public Administration · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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