Did a deadly pandemic create a healthier election? An Evaluation of the Effects of COVID-19 Related Voting Reforms on Voter Turnout in the 2020 U.S Presidential Election.
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- July 27, 2023
- Creator
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Bacon, Katherine
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- The 2020 United States Presidential election saw unprecedented voter turnout. This paper examines the potential causes of this change in turnout from the 2016 presidential election. I accounted for the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in convenience voting reforms, and the increase in political polarization. I created a dataset with total turnout numbers, Democratic vote share, Republican vote share, Black voter turnout, White voter turnout, mail-in voting numbers, voting reforms, age, COVID-19 hotspots, and competition level for each state. I conducted an analysis for 2016, 2020, and the change from 2016 to 2020. I explored how voting laws impacted total turnout, turnout by party, and turnout by race. Using regression analysis, I found limited results for the impact of voting laws on total turnout. I found significant results for positive effects on Democratic share and negative effects on Republican share. Finally, I found a differential between Black and White voters. I found significant results for voting laws positively impacting White voters and negatively impacting Black voters. Future research can explore this finding, which was contrary to my initial research and hypothesis.
- Date of publication
- April 10, 2023
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Advisor
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Globetti, Suzanne
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science
- Degree
- Bachelor of Arts
- Graduation year
- 2023
- Language
- English
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