Race and Rurality Shape the Impact of Facilitative Election Laws

CIRCLE's research is focused on highlighting the gaps in civic access, support, and culture that lead to inequities in participation by race/ethnicity, rurality, and other factors. One key element of access to electoral participation is election policies, and our research has tracked how both facilitative laws like automatic voter registration, and other policies that may serve as barriers like voter ID laws, can affect youth voter registration and turnout. In this analysis, we dig deeper into the effects of various electoral laws and policies by focusing on race and rurality during the 2022 election, with a particular focus on youth of color in rural areas.

Facilitative Policies Help Youth of Color Register to Vote

Many facilitative election policies shape how young people can get registered to vote, such as Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), Same-Day Registration (SDR), and Online Voter Registration (OVR).

In general, our research shows these policies were more likely to have a statistical impact on the registration of youth of color rather than white youth. Automatic voter registration is associated with a 5% increase in registration rates for youth of color (ages 18-29), whereas it does not have a statistically significant impact on white youth. Pre-registration at age 16 yielded a 3% increase in registration for youth of color, but again no significant impact on white youth.

Meanwhile, same-day registration is associated with an overall decrease in registration for both youth of color (-3%) and white youth (-8%). This is consistent with other findings about how these policies impact voter registration among all adults. One possible explanation is that in states with same-day registration, young people, who are a high mobility population, feel less pressure to register until they want to and are taking advantage of the flexibility that such a policy offers. The difference by race/ethnicity may be the result of white youth already receiving more outreach and having more access to voter registration opportunities.

When looking at race and rurality together, we find that automatic voter registration was particularly impactful: it increased the voter registration of rural youth of color by 9%.

Facilitative Policies Increase Turnout for All Youth

Facilitative election policies had a positive effect on turnout for both white youth and youth of color. However, unlike with voter registration rates, white youth experience a higher bump in turnout from the policies. Automatic voter registration is associated with a 9% increase in turnout for white youth and a 7% increase for youth of color. Same-day registration had an even larger impact: 8% higher turnout for youth of color and 11% increase for white youth.

Other researchers have identified that same-day registration may have a bigger impact on young people’s turnout than on the participation rates of older generations, which aligns with CIRCLE’s research highlighting how lack of time and deadlines are a common barrier preventing young people from registering as well as the reality that young people move more often. In addition, pre-registration helped get 6% more youth of color to the ballot box, compared to 9% for white youth. Pre-registration also had a significant impact on overall rural youth turnout (+14%). 

Same-day registration was particularly impactful for rural youth, increasing turnout by 8% for rural youth of color and 12% for rural white youth.

When these policies are present in combination, like in Virginia and other states with multiple facilitative policies in place, it can even further enhance their benefits. Youth of color saw a 3% increase in turnout for each additional policy in a given state, while white youth’s turnout increased by 4% per policy. Notably, among rural youth, that combined effect was even stronger: there was a 5% increase in turnout for each policy in place. But that positive effect only held for white youth in rural communities, not for rural youth of color. This suggests that rural youth of color’s experiences with these facilitative election policies may be shaped more by their racial identity than by their geographical community. 

Whether in urban or rural areas, the differences in how youth of color experience these policies may be indicative of the different barriers that communities of color face in accessing the ballot box. While these policies make it easier for young people of color to make it over the administrative hurdle of registration, after registering they can face additional barriers to voting which render these policies less impactful. While these facilitative election laws are important for helping young people more easily register to vote, addressing voter suppression efforts that target communities of color is key to expanding the youth electorate and supporting young BIPOC voters in casting their ballots.

Conclusion: Implementation and Attention to Inequality Matter

This policy analysis reaffirms one of the key findings of our work on how to grow voters: election policies matter, and they have an impact on participation rates. However, it also highlights that, for both rural and urban youth, policy impact is closely tied to race. Given the historical marginalization of people of color in the United States and current voter suppression efforts affecting both rural and urban communities of color, it is vital that policies that ease the registration and voting process continue to be enacted and implemented with an eye toward eliminating racial inequities.

To do that, the focus must shift from merely passing a policy and having it in the books to pursuing its equitable implementation. That may mean devoting resources to outreach for specific communities or the removal of other restrictive voting policies or barriers that may prevent some groups of young people from learning about and taking advantage of a facilitative law. That is especially critical for young people, who are often participating in the electoral process for the first time and need information and support to learn about voting and elections and be exposed to civic opportunities.