Quantitative Research on Voting Rights
Our Mission
To perform research into voter list management processes, and to translate those findings into useful guidance for organizations, volunteers, and election workers seeking to broaden and encourage participation in the voting process.
News
Read our new report, “Use it or Lose it”: Analysis of a Texas Voter Bill and Impacts on North Texas VotersFor more information visit the National Coalition for Voting Rights
Projects
Voter List Management in Texas Counties
Marcie L Reynolds, Tarleton State University
Andrea K Barreiro, SMU
Abstract: In Texas, county elections officials are the frontline guardians of election integrity, protecting each eligible citizen’s right to vote while preventing fraud. State law requires these officials to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter registration lists which are reported to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. The list includes registrants in suspense, often due to questions about residency. Those on the suspense list must act or their voter registration will be cancelled after two federal election cycles. A better understanding of the voter registration suspense and cancellation process inspired a cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional project. Our prior research found significant relationships between registration suspensions and race demographics as well as political party preferences within counties between 2016-2020. This paper extends the findings with 2014 and 2022 data added to the analysis. The more recent data will determine if suspension percentages change following the 2020 presidential election and 87th Texas legislative session in 2021 when four new or amended election administration laws were passed, including imposition of civil penalties or withholding of public funds for counties out of compliance. Future research will investigate more fine-grained voter lists in order to determine if certain precincts within counties are more likely than others to have their voter registrations placed on the suspense list and then cancelled. The results will be used to create educational campaigns for public officials and private citizens. (Presented at the Southwestern Social Science Association Annual Meeting, April 2024).
"Use It Or Lose It" Voter Laws in Texas
Andrea K Barreiro, SMU
Robin Lederer, National Coalition for Voting Rights
Abstract: Many organizations focus attention on registering voters; others on GOTV. In comparison, little attention is paid to the process of maintaining voter rolls, which includes removing names when they are deemed to no longer be valid voters. However, voter list management (VLM) practices have a huge impact on Texas voters: in the same period of time as 2.9 million voters were registered in Texas, 1.8 million voters had their registrations rejected or removed; a further 1 million voters were put into “Suspense”. Moreover, VLM processes are continually changing, as legislators propose a list of bills each session to further regulate this process. One recent example is the “Use It Or Lose It” bill, which would put a voter into “Suspense” simply for not voting, and which was proposed in the Texas Legislature in 2023. We used recent voter history files obtained from four major North Texas counties to assess the likely impact of this bill if it were to pass, by estimating how many voters would be impacted. We found stark disparities across counties, Congressional districts, and TX Senate and House districts. For example: the percentage of currently ‘Active’ voters likely to be impacted ranged from 11% to 40%, across different Dallas County TX House of Representative districts. These differences were observed, albeit less starkly, across Congressional and US Senate districts as well.
Details: Read our new report,