VOTER PARTICIPATION, RESTRICTIVE VOTER LAWS, AND REPUBLICAN LEGISLATURES: A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF BLACK TURNOUT ON THE PROPOSAL AND PASSAGE OF RESTRICTIVE VOTING LEGISLATION

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Reilly, Jack

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

Several state legislatures responded to the 2020 election’s record turnout by proposing and passing record numbers of restrictions on voting. This study considers whether higher turnout rates from Black voters influences the proposal and passage of restrictive voting legislation. I hypothesize that, in Republican-controlled legislatures, Black turnout will increase both the number of proposed restrictive bills in a state and the likelihood a legislature passes a restrictive bill due to the overwhelmingly Democratic voting patterns of Black voters, with a further expectation that this effect will be clearest in Republican states that are electorally competitive. Using data from 34 states in the 2020 election, I run several regression models to test my hypotheses. Ultimately, I find little support for my hypotheses. If any relationship exists between Black turnout and restrictive laws, higher turnout from Black voters decreases the likelihood that a restrictive bill passes. There are mixed indications about how competitiveness might influence restrictive voting laws, but no indication that Black turnout’s effects will be altered based on competitiveness. Republican control of a state presents a regularly substantive effect on restrictive laws. These results cannot be easily generalized beyond these 34 states, so future study on this topic is important.

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