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Voting Lines, Equal Treatment, and Early Voting Check-In Times in Florida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2021

David Cottrell ,
Michael C. Herron Open the ORCID record for Michael C. Herron [Opens in a new window]  and
Daniel A. Smith
David Cottrell
Affiliation:
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Michael C. Herron*
Affiliation:
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH,USA
Daniel A. Smith
Affiliation:
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
*
Michael C. Herron, Dartmouth College, 6108 Silsby Hall, Hanover, NH03755-3547, USA. Email: michael.c.herron@dartmouth.edu
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Abstract

Lines at the polls raise the cost of voting and can precipitate unequal treatment of voters. Research on voting lines is nonetheless hampered by a fundamental measurement problem: little is known about the distribution of time voters spend in line prior to casting ballots. We argue that early, in-person voter check-in times allow us identify individuals who waited in line to vote. Drawing on election administrative records from two General Elections in Florida—1,031,179 check-ins from 2012 and 1,846,845 from 2016—we find that minority voters incurred disproportionately long wait times in 2012 and that in-person voters who waited excessively in 2012 had a slightly lower probability—approximately one percent—of turning out to vote in 2016, ceteris paribus. These individuals also had slightly lower turnout probabilities in the 2014 Midterm Election, ceteris paribus. Our results draw attention to the ongoing importance of the administrative features of elections that influence the cost of voting and ultimately the extent to which voters are treated equally.

Keywords

voting linesequal treatmentelection administrationturnoutearly voting
Type
Original Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 109 - 138
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020

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