An analysis conducted at MIT found that black and Hispanic voters waited almost twice as long to vote in the 2012 election as their white counterparts. The following graph, created by the New York Times, shows that they waited for an average of 20.2 minutes whereas white voters waited an estimated 12.7 minutes.
But that’s only the nationwide average. Another analysis cited by the Times finds that waiting times varied from state to state with Florida coming in first with lines averaging 45 minutes long. Next was DC, Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia.
Other factors that correlated with longer waits times included party affiliation and the districts population size:
Several recent polls and studies suggest that long waiting times in some places depressed turnout in 2012 and that lines were longest in cities, where Democrats outnumber Republicans. In a New York Times/CBS News poll taken shortly after Election Day, 18 percent of Democrats said they waited at least a half-hour to vote, compared with 11 percent of independents and 9 percent of Republicans.
A separate analysis, by an Ohio State University professor and The Orlando Sentinel, concluded that more than 200,000 voters in Florida “gave up in frustration” without voting.
The take away from these analyses is that voter suppression tactics were wildly successful at disenfranchising minorities who happen to vote overwhelmingly Democrat. Republican state legislatures from Florida to Ohio cut early voting hours, instituted voter ID laws and purged thousands of voters from the voting rolls.
Don’t let the average wait times fool you. Twenty minute in line may seem like no big deal, but the reality is that some people waited up to six hours to vote.
Despite the inefficiency of our voting system, certain states are continuing to make it more difficult for certain people to vote. For example, Virginia’s GOP-led state legislature is trying to tighten the state’s already strict voter ID law. In case you have any doubts about who the target of this new law is, just consider the forms of identification that can be used.
The News & Advance reports that Virginia’s new ID law “would eliminate the use of a utility bill, pay stub, bank statement, government check and Social Security card as acceptable identification that can be presented at the polls. Voters would still be able to use a voter identification card, concealed handgun permit, driver’s license and student ID card.”
You see? A Social Security card isn’t enough to prove your identity, but a conceal carry license is. It makes perfect sense! That is, if you’re trying to ensure your new ID laws keep poor minorities from the polls without affecting white conservatives.
Out of pure curiosity, would the wait times be higher in more densely populated areas due to simply the higher population? It seems that predominately minority neighborhoods tend to have higher population densities, though I could be wrong. And could the numbers possibly reflect a higher turn-out rate for blacks and hispanics? I know voter turn-out is always pretty dismal in the US, so perhaps it reflects that less whites voted by comparison?
I’m not trying to excuse actual wrong-doing, just wondering if anything looked at possible non-prejudicial contributing factors such as above? I wouldn’t even know where to look for such stats, if they even exist.
February 6, 2013 at 3:46 pmThese are all great and important questions. Obviously, correlation isn’t causation and you’re right about higher population densities being a factor. But I imagine reducing early voting hours and adding more voting restrictions made things worse.
Either way, no one should have to wait an hour to vote, especially in a country where workers don’t get a day off to cast their ballot. And the racial disparity isn’t acceptable, regardless of what the reason is.
February 6, 2013 at 5:10 pmYeah. I know in my state all ballots are cast by mail, so there isn’t any wait at all. Not sure why that isn’t implemented nation-wide…
February 6, 2013 at 5:21 pmIf wait times were longer simply because of higher population, then that would be an example of disparate effect.. however, it’s still likely due to racism (at least in part) because of systematic oppression.. and then it is another factor that is going to discourage black and hispanic people from voting, thus increasing the disparities. I know that, as a low income mother of two, there is NO WAY I would wait in line six hours to vote. Thankfully, as a resident of a relatively affluent neighborhood, I didn’t have to.
February 6, 2013 at 4:05 pmThese people and their “Got-mine-don’t-care-about-you-or-yours” attitudes piss me off every time I read about their nasty selves and how they make it hard for others who are unlike them–whatever it is they are… or think they are.
February 6, 2013 at 4:46 pmThese people and their “Got-mine-don’t-care-about-you-or-yours” attitudes piss me off every time I read about their nasty selves and how they make it hard for others who are unlike them–whatever it is they are… or think they are.
February 6, 2013 at 4:46 pmHaving followed US elections for many years, and having read of the hours long waits in areas predominantly by Blacks or Hispanics, I have no doubt about the intention.
If you had waited, lets be generous, an hour and a half to vote, only to be told that you were no longer in this district, but must go to the next, where you could to wait again, for an hour and a half, or so, and you were taking time off from your poor paying job, or/and you had kids at home, would you vote?
If there were notices letter dropped throughout your neighbourhood informing you that sheriffs deputies would be at all voting booths checking id’s against outstanding warrants, where a similar name would do to arrest you while it was ‘checked out’, where you couldn’t be certain if there was an outstanding fine, where you might have the same name as some other, would you vote?
If you knew that there would be harassment of lesser or greater degree, would you vote?
Standard tactics in (some?) Republican controlled areas.
February 6, 2013 at 6:20 pmHaving followed US elections for many years, and having read of the hours long waits in areas predominantly by Blacks or Hispanics, I have no doubt about the intention.
If you had waited, lets be generous, an hour and a half to vote, only to be told that you were no longer in this district, but must go to the next, where you could to wait again, for an hour and a half, or so, and you were taking time off from your poor paying job, or/and you had kids at home, would you vote?
If there were notices letter dropped throughout your neighbourhood informing you that sheriffs deputies would be at all voting booths checking id’s against outstanding warrants, where a similar name would do to arrest you while it was ‘checked out’, where you couldn’t be certain if there was an outstanding fine, where you might have the same name as some other, would you vote?
If you knew that there would be harassment of lesser or greater degree, would you vote?
Standard tactics in (some?) Republican controlled areas.
February 6, 2013 at 6:20 pmwell I don’t think voting can solve our fundamental problems but we do have to defend the few rights we do have
February 7, 2013 at 6:47 am