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Related Content: Burden et al. (PAR May/June 2017)

ObjectivePolling place inaccessibility may contribute to the disability gap in voter turnout, both directly by making voting more difficult for people with disabilities, and indirectly by sending the message that people with disabilities are not expected to participate in the political sphere. We explore the role of polling place inaccessibility by examining voter turnout and reports of voting difficulties among people with and without disabilities in the 2012 elections.MethodWe use the Census Bureau's Voting and Registration Supplement (VRS) and a newly constructed national household survey following the 2012 elections.ResultsConsistent with past findings, the disability turnout gap is reduced but not eliminated when controlling for standard predictors of voter turnout. Nearly, one‐third (30 percent) of voters with disabilities reported difficulty in voting at a polling place in 2012, compared to only 8 percent of voters without disabilities. We find that difficulties in voting predict lower perceptions of the influence people with disabilities have in the political process. This in turn is a significant predictor of voter turnout among people with disabilities, supporting the idea that voting difficulties depress turnout. Majorities of people both with and without disabilities said they would prefer voting in person in a polling place in the next election.ConclusionThe results point to the potential role of polling place accessibility in voter turnout, and the gains from wider adoption of best practices to reduce barriers and make the voting process more fully accessible.

Showing up to cast a vote in an election in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries was a very different experience from the one with which we are familiar today. The occasion of casting a vote was a celebratory one, often attended by much food and drink. Voting was also a public act. In some cases, it was a matter of providing a signature under a candidate's name, or vocally calling out one's support for a particular candidate. Voter intimidation, often involving acts of violence, was common. Even when votes were cast on paper ballots, the standard was that a voting process was fair when "a man of ordinary courage" could make it to the voting window. The rowdy and dangerous atmosphere involved in casting a vote was offered as a weighty reason that the right to vote should be denied to women. In fact, the practice of voting was so corrupt, that one theory explaining the mysterious death of Edgar Allen Poe was that he was the victim of "cooping"—the practice of kidnapping less fortunate (often homeless) members of society, getting them drunk, and forcing them to vote repeatedly for a particular candidate.

Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Acknowledgments -- Voting barriers: the obstacle course of electoral participation -- Sweating the vote: polling place stress as a voting barrier -- Studying polling place stress: an experimental approach -- Can you read me? ballot access complexity and voter behavior -- Does a placebo ballot lead to a voting headache? provisional ballots and voter behavior -- The waiting is the hardest part? polling place wait times and voter behavior -- Are the barriers higher for some voters? the conditional effects of polling place stressors -- Dealing with polling place stressors: conclusions and implications -- Appendix a: subject recruitment -- Appendix b: pre-test survey -- Appendix c: post-test, mock election ballot -- Appendix d: measures, coding, and distribution of responses -- Bibliography -- About the authors

ABSTRACTGood education requires student experiences that deliver lessons about practice as well as theory and that encourage students to work for the public good—especially in the operation of democratic institutions (Dewey 1923; Dewy 1938). We report on an evaluation of the pedagogical value of a research project involving 23 colleges and universities across the country. Faculty trained and supervised students who observed polling places in the 2016 General Election. Our findings indicate that this was a valuable learning experience in both the short and long terms. Students found their experiences to be valuable and reported learning generally and specifically related to course material. Postelection, they also felt more knowledgeable about election science topics, voting behavior, and research methods. Students reported interest in participating in similar research in the future, would recommend other students to do so, and expressed interest in more learning and research about the topics central to their experience. Our results suggest that participants appreciated the importance of elections and their study. Collectively, the participating students are engaged and efficacious—essential qualities of citizens in a democracy.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal law requires that disabled persons have access to polling places on election day. State political subdivisions must ensure that polling places used in federal elections are accessible. Exceptions are allowed if all potential polling places have been surveyed, no accessible place is available, and the political subdivision cannot make one temporarily accessible. In these cases, disabled voters must either be reassigned to an accessible polling place or provided another means for voting on election day. All states have provisions that address voting by people with disabilities, but these provisions vary greatly. All states provide for one or more alternative voting methods or accommodations that may facilitate voting by people with disabilities. States and localities have made several efforts to improve voting accessibility for the disabled, such as modifying poling places, acquiring new voting equipment, and expanding voting options. Nevertheless, state and county election officials GAO surveyed cited various challenges to improving access."

Voting is the most basic form of political participation. The agencies that are responsible for voting must delineate precincts and designate a polling place for each precinct. This spatial decision-making requires a strategic approach for several reasons. First, changes in the location of polling places induce transportation and search costs from the perspective of voters. Second, improving accessibility to polling places can increase turnout. Third, differences in the population sizes of precincts may produce biased voting results. Spatial optimization approaches can be a strategic method for delimiting precincts and siting polling places. The purpose of this paper is to develop a spatial optimization model, namely, the capacitated double p-median problem with preference (CDPMP-P), which simultaneously delimits boundaries of precincts and selects potential facilities in terms of mixed integer programming (MIP). The CDPMP-P explicitly includes realistic requirements, such as population balance, the spatial continuity of precincts, the preferences of potential facilities where polling places can be installed, and the possibility of allocating multiple polling places in one facility.