The Electoral Effects of Indigenous Polling Places in the Philippines

• In Event: Poster Session: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries & Foreign Policy
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Abstract

How does the establishment of designated polling stations for marginalized minority groups affect their representation within electoral politics? Segregated polling places have been proposed as a means of increasing electoral participation among historically marginalized groups. However, in clientelistic democracies, these initiatives may have the unintended consequence of facilitating monitoring by vote brokers and ``elite capture" of minority votes by party machines. To study this question, we evaluate a pilot intervention by the Philippines' Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to establish separate polling places for Indigenous communities who have historically faced harassment and discrimination during elections. Preliminary results provide suggestive evidence that the intervention increased turnout and led to gains for establishment politicians in elections for municipal mayor, but may have decreased turnout and reduced the vote shares of establishment candidates in village elections.

Author

• Nina McMurry, Vanderbilt University