Editing Voter suppression (section)

== By type ==
=== Ballot design ===
A half-million Americans had their votes disqualified in 2008 and 2010 due to [[ballot]] design issues, including confusing instructions.<ref name=":5"/> The order of politicians on the ballot can also give one candidate an edge,<ref name=":5" /> while the length of a ballot can [[Voter fatigue|overwhelm voters]], pushing them from the electorate for some or all races and increasing the wait times in lines for in-person voters.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Demsas |first=Jerusalem |date=2023-08-21 |title=Americans Vote Too Much |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/american-election-frequency-voter-turnout/675054/ |access-date=2023-09-21 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref>

=== Day-of experience ===
Requiring people to travel long distances and/or wait in long lines, for example suppresses voter turnout. Some parties in Europe that have less support among expats have made it much more difficult for them to cast ballots by removing [[Postal voting|vote by mail]] options, forcing some to travel hundreds of kilometers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fubini |first=Federico |date=2020-01-15 |title=Voter suppression comes to Europe |url=https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/european-integration/voter-suppression-comes-to-europe-3999/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=www.ips-journal.eu}}</ref>

Weekend (such as Saturday voting in Australia), also contributes to higher turnout than weekday voting, maybe even more than having Election Day as a recognized holiday.<ref name=":5" /> A study in the UK found that when the sun sets later in the day, turnout tends to improve.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rallings |first1=C. |last2=Thrasher |first2=M. |last3=Borisyuk |first3=G. |date=March 2003 |title=Seasonal factors, voter fatigue and the costs of voting |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0261379401000476 |journal=Electoral Studies |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=65–79 |doi=10.1016/S0261-3794(01)00047-6|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The [[Cost of voting index|Cost of Voting Index]] estimates how much more difficult the voting experience is on average in states around the U.S.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Corasaniti |first1=Nick |last2=McCann |first2=Allison |date=2022-09-20 |title=The 'Cost' of Voting in America: A Look at Where It's Easiest and Hardest |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/20/us/politics/cost-of-voting.html |access-date=2023-01-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 78% of respondents in one preferred vote-by-mail to voting in-person.<ref name=":1" />

=== Disenfranchisement ===
The [[Disfranchisement|disenfranchisement of voters]] due to [[Voting age|age]], [[Non-resident citizen voting|residence]], [[Non-citizen suffrage|citizenship]], or [[Felony disenfranchisement|criminal record]] are among the more recent examples of ways that elections can be subverted by changing who is allowed to vote. Most countries set their voting age to 18, thus disenfranchising citizens below that age. In many countries, like Germany, disenfrachisement is an additional penalty to certain crimes, such as treason or electoral fraud. In others such as India, all prisoners lose the right to vote during the duration of their imprisonment. Some jurisdictions may disenfranchise felons for life, including [[Felony disenfranchisement in the United States|some (but not all) states]] of the United States of America.

=== Frequent elections ===
{{Main|Voter fatigue}}
Frequent elections increase the amount of time and attention required of voters, typically leading to lower [[Voter turnout|turnout]] among certain types of voters.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anzia |first=Sarah F. |date=2011-04-01 |title=Election Timing and the Electoral Influence of Interest Groups |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1017/S0022381611000028 |journal=The Journal of Politics |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=412–427 |doi=10.1017/S0022381611000028 |issn=0022-3816|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Two-round system|Two-round elections]] (including [[Partisan primary|primary election]]s), [[recall election]]s, and [[off-year election]]s are some examples of elections that contribute to voter fatigue. For example, [[Japan]], [[Switzerland]] and the [[United States]] have the lowest voter turnout rates among developed countries due to holding frequent elections.<ref name="Samuel Popkin 2001. P. 9702">Michael McDonald and Samuel Popkin. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3117725 "The Myth of the Vanishing Voter"] in American Political Science Review. December 2001. p. 970.</ref>

=== Identification ===
[[Photo identification]] requirements to vote can disenfranchise many voters especially the young, elderly, lower-income people, recently [[Transgender|transitioned]] individuals, people of color, recently married women and people with disabilities. Additionally, the implementation of signature-matching processes, especially for mail-in ballots, can also be done so strictly as to suppress orders of magnitude more votes than the actual fraud that it prevents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-02 |title=Signature Match Laws Disproportionately Impact Voters Already on the Margins |url=https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/signature-match-laws-disproportionately-impact-voters-already-margins |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=American Civil Liberties Union}}</ref>
The Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at The University of Maryland estimates that 15% of adult American either lack driver's licenses or state IDs or have IDs that may not meet strict photo ID voting law requirements.<ref name="Andres et al 25">{{cite web |last1=Rothschild |first1=Jillian Andres |last2=Novey |first2=Samuel B |last3=Hanmer |first3=Michael J |title=Who Lacks ID in America Today? An Exploration of Voter ID Access, Barriers, and Knowledge |url=https://cdce.umd.edu/sites/cdce.umd.edu/files/pubs/Voter%20ID%202023%20survey%20Key%20Results%20Jan%202024%20%281%29.pdf |website=Center for Democracy and Civil Engagement |publisher=University of Maryland |access-date=30 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250324082414/https://cdce.umd.edu/sites/cdce.umd.edu/files/pubs/Voter%20ID%202023%20survey%20Key%20Results%20Jan%202024%20(1).pdf |archive-date=24 March 2025 |date=January 2024}}</ref> A solution implemented in a number of countries is to automatically send free ID cards to all its citizens.<ref name=":1" />

=== Influence of money ===
Less-regulated [[Campaign finance|campaign spending]] reduces the influence of every vote by giving more power to wealthy people, special interests and [[Lobbying|lobbyists]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ginsburg |first=Tom |date=2018 |title=Democratic Backsliding and the Rule of Law |url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=13786&context=journal_articles |journal=Ohio Northern University Law Review |volume=44 |pages=351–369}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Baldwin |first=Bridgette |date=April 24, 2015 |title=Backsliding: The United States Supreme Court, Shelby County v. Holder and the Dismantling of Voting Rights Act of 1965 |url=https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/jrge/vol7/iss1/25/ |journal=Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity |volume=7 |issue=1}}</ref> [[Political corruption|Corruption]] presents a more widely recognized form of [[election subversion]] or [[electoral fraud]] where votes or positions are acquired illegally using money.

=== Information warfare ===
{{main|Information warfare}}
[[Misinformation]], [[disinformation]], and the platforms that are incentivized to boost half-truths and lies are forms of information warfare that can be used to confuse, intimidate, or deceive voters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ressa |first=Maria |title=How to stand up to a dictator: the fight for our future |others=Foreword by Amal Clooney |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-06-325751-1 |edition=First |location=New York |publisher=Harper |oclc=1333867107}}</ref> When misinformation and disinformation is amplified by the laundering of foreign money through domestic [[nonprofit organization]]s or other allied domestic actors, charges of [[treason]] can be brought against these actors for colluding with a foreign power.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levin |first=Dov H. |title=Meddling in the ballot box : the causes and effects of partisan electoral interventions |year=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0197519882}}</ref>

Common examples include undermining journalism, academia, political speech and other fundamental exchanges of ideas and information. Free or low-cost sources of information, such as through libraries, schools, nonprofits, public media, or open-source projects (like [[Wikipedia]]), have historically supported this key democratic prerequisite. For example, two-thirds of U.S. college students in one study cited a lack of information as a reason for why they did not vote.<ref name=":1" />

=== Intimidation and violence ===
Intimidation can result from the presence of cameras or guns at polling places to ballots that may not be secret.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Newman |first=Lily Hay |date=November 7, 2022 |title=The Secret Ballot Is US Democracy's Last Line of Defense |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/secret-ballot-voter-intimidation-2022-us-midterms/ |access-date=2022-12-09 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> Following-through on threats by [[Political violence|physically harming or killing people]] can severely deter voter participation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roush |first=Wade |title=Truly Secure Voting Is on the Way |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/truly-secure-voting-is-on-the-way/ |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=Scientific American |date=January 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Path dependence/tyranny of the past ===
The lack of [[intergenerational equity]] in policy undermines the ability of voters to pursue [[self-determination]] through their democratic processes. For example, the lifetime appointments of judges, or constitutions that are so difficult to change that they do not reflect the values of current voters, show how power allocated in the past can thwart voter power in the present. This kind of lock-in is only helpful if the present is less democratic than the past, which can become a self-fulfilling prophecy by simultaneously hampering the democratic innovations and evolutions that could prevent those threats by bolstering ancient architecture with the latest best-practices. Past actions can also create other kinds of [[path dependence]], where power to shape democratic institutions can be slowed down or subverted by decisions made by those who wielded power in the past, regardless of how fairly (democratically) those setting the rules came to power and regardless of the values held by or information available to voters in the present. A relatively tangible example could be a country allowing itself to run up a large [[Government debt|national debt]] that present-day voters did not consent to, shrinking discretionary spending to a fraction of what previous voters were able to spend.

===Registration or enrollment===
[[Voter registration]] (or enrollment) is an extra step in the election process creates extra work for voters, especially those who move often and are new to the system, thereby suppressing their votes. Registration has been the number one reason why citizens in the US do not vote, which is why most democracies automatically enroll their citizens.<ref name=":1" /> Same-day [[Voter registration|registration]] is another tool to make registration less of a barrier. In addition, the existence of the process itself opens up more opportunities to make the process intentionally difficult or impossible, including aggressive voter roll purges.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2018 |title=Voter Purges {{!}} Brennan Center for Justice |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/vote-suppression/voter-purges |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=www.brennancenter.org |language=en}}</ref> The [[Cost of voting index|Cost of Voting Index]] quantifies some of the differences in voter registration experiences in US states.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schraufnagel |first1=Scot |last2=Pomante |first2=Michael J. |last3=Li |first3=Quan |date=2022-09-01 |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2022* |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |language=en |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=220–228 |doi=10.1089/elj.2022.0041 |issn=1533-1296|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Party membership requirements ====
Another example where registration can suppress votes is requiring a declared party preference, which is required in closed [[Partisan primary|primaries]] in the United States for example, dissuading voters who do not want to declare a party preference in order to weigh-in on who represents them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Rhodes |title=Registering By Party: Where the Democrats and Republicans Are Ahead – Sabato's Crystal Ball |date=12 July 2018 |url=https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/registering-by-party-where-the-democrats-and-republicans-are-ahead/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Open primaries]] allow anyone to vote regardless of party preference or affiliation. In some more authoritarian states,{{Which|date=February 2025}} loyal party membership may be required to have a say, or even basic rights and privileges.

=== Voter apathy ===
Voters may be discouraged from voting by weak cultural norms around voting. Countries without [[Compulsory voting|universal voting]] signal that voting is unimportant. A voting culture can be developed by reinforcing how voting is valued, expected and a centerpiece of a place's culture,<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last1=Dionne |first1=E. J. Jr. |title=100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting |last2=Rapoport |first2=Miles |publisher=The New Press |others=Cornell William Brooks, Allegra Chapman, Joshua A. Douglas, Amber Herrle, Cecily Hines, Janai Nelson, Brenda Wright, Heather C. McGhee |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-62097-677-7 |location=New York |oclc=1252962012}}</ref> as peer pressure and a sense of belonging are powerful incentives to do something collectively.

Some proposals for reform include requiring that every selection have a 'none of the above' option, allow a wide range of valid excuses for not voting for conscientious objectors, and charging a low, non-compounding, non-criminal fee for those who do not vote or select a valid reason.<ref name=":6" />

=== Wasted votes ===
[[Plurality voting|Winner-take-all]] systems (unlike in systems with [[proportional representation]]), are especially vulnerable to weakening and [[Wasted vote|wasting certain votes year after year]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seabrook |first=Nick |title=One person, one vote : a surprising history of gerrymandering in America |date=2022 |isbn=978-0-593-31586-6 |publisher=Pantheon Books |edition=First |location=New York |oclc=1286675891}}</ref> This phenomenon also suppresses turnout for that and other elections help simultaneously in states that are not competitive, suppressing the popular vote for president in the US, for example, while lowering turnout in a host of other contests.<ref name=":1" /> In contrast, a [[parliamentary system]] typically significantly reduces wasted (suppressed) votes, helping to ensure more [[vote equality]] and encouraging greater overall participation.<ref name="Samuel Popkin 2001. P. 9702"/>

[[Referendum|Ballot referendum]] can also be a powerful avenue for changing political systems, for example, that are not as responsive to voters due to [[gerrymandering]] or other [[anti-democratic action]]s and policies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Ballot measures on weed and abortion won in 2022. Now they're fueling a backlash |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1142821226/ballot-weed-abortion-won-2022-fueling-backlash |access-date=2022-12-15}}</ref>