The Disparate Racial Effects of Voter List Maintenance in Florida

• In Event: Public Policy and Political Institutions

Abstract

The public debate over whether voter registration lists are saddled with "deadwood" and "ghost voters," or in contrast, are subject to aggressive "voter purges" by local election administrators targeting certain voters continues, seemingly unabated. Scholars studying voter registration lists rely on either aggregate data from the Election Assistance Commission to identify counts and reasons for removals from the rolls, or alternatively, estimate rates of voter removals correlated with Census or IRS data. Drawing on an original dataset of nearly 1 million voters removed from the rolls across several counties in Florida over several years, we document which registered voters are removed from county lists, the reasons for their removals, and whether those removed from the rolls re-register. Modelling differences in rates for each removal reason, we find a disparate impact for racial minorities, controlling for party, gender, age, vote histories, and jurisdiction. Our analysis raises new questions about which registered voters are affected by various types of list maintenance.

Author

• Daniel A. Smith, University of Florida