Inconvenient Voting: Native Americans and The Costs of Early Voting

Chavez, Jason Nathaniel

Inconvenient Voting: Native Americans and The Costs of Early Voting

dc.contributor.author	Chavez, Jason Nathaniel	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Jewitt, Caitlin E.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Goedert, Nicholas	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Rocha Beardall, Theresa	en
dc.contributor.department	Political Science	en
dc.date.accessioned	2020-06-16T19:35:29Z	en
dc.date.available	2020-06-16T19:35:29Z	en
dc.date.issued	2020-06-16	en
dc.description.abstract	Proponents claim that the convenience of early voting increases voter turnout by reducing the time and effort to vote through expanded opportunities for participation beyond "traditional" in-person voting at polling places on election day. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that reforms intended to make the voting process easier do not have the same effect throughout the electorate. Instead, early voting is likely to exacerbate the lack of ability to meaningfully participate in the electoral process for those particularly vulnerable to the costs of voting. Fundamentally, early voting requires access to postal services to receive and return an early ballot by-mail, as well as the ability to travel to an early in-person voting site. The irregular mail delivery operations and long traveling distances common throughout Indian Country suggests that systems of early voting lack viability on reservation lands. This research asks how the costs of voting for Native Americans affects their participation in systems of early voting. To investigate this relationship, I elucidate the social, economic, cultural, political, and geographic factors that render political participation more difficult for Native Americans. By comparing voter turnout in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections among reservation voters on the Navajo Nation to non-reservation voters in Apache, Navajo, and Coconino counties in Arizona, I find that reservation voters prefer to vote in-person on election day while non-reservation voters prefer to vote early. I also find that early voting turnout among reservation voters increased between 2012 and 2016, however, further analysis demonstrated that turnout was higher in reservation precincts with greater access to postal services. These findings illuminate our knowledge of the convenience of early voting and add to our specific understanding of the factors that affect Native American political participation.	en
dc.description.abstractgeneral	Early voting has become a popular alternative to the civic tradition of voting in-person at polling places on election day. During the 2016 presidential election, millions of American voters cast their ballots early, either by-mail or at early voting sites. These expanded opportunities for participation allow voters to avoid the hassle of large crowds and restrictive hours at the polls. Proponents claim that by making the voting process easier, early voting also increases voter turnout, yet anecdotal evidence suggests that the convenience of early voting is not enjoyed equally by all voters. Instead, Native American voters are at a likely disadvantage with regard to early voting due to the irregular mail delivery operations and long traveling distances common on reservation lands. Of course, access to mail and transportation are required to vote by-mail and early in-person. This research asks how the costs of voting for Native Americans affects their participation in systems of early voting. To investigate this question, I examine the costs of voting and voter turnout for reservation voters on the Navajo Nation compared to non-reservation voters in Apache, Navajo, and Coconino counties in Arizona. I find that political participation manifests differently for both groups; reservation voters prefer to vote in-person on election day and non-reservation voters prefer to vote early. Although it was significantly higher among non-reservation voters, early voting turnout increased among reservation voters between the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. However, further analysis demonstrated that turnout is affected by proximity to post offices or other postal service providers. These findings suggest that Native American political participation is made more difficult by social, economic, cultural, political, and geographic barriers and that reforms to make the voting process easier do not reduce these costs of voting.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Arts	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.identifier.other	vt_gsexam:26447	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/98924	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	Native Americans	en
dc.subject	Political Participation	en
dc.subject	Costs of Voting	en
dc.subject	Elections	en
dc.subject	Early Voting	en
dc.subject	Vote-by-Mail	en
dc.subject	Voter Turnout	en
dc.title	Inconvenient Voting: Native Americans and The Costs of Early Voting	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Political Science	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Arts	en