| Cost of Voting Index | |
| Formation: | 2018 |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Leader Title: | Author |
| Leader Name: | Scot Schraufnagel |
| Leader Title2: | Author |
| Leader Name2: | Michael J. Pomante II |
| Leader Title3: | Author |
| Leader Name3: | Quan Li |
| Footnotes: | 2022 Election Law Journal article |
The Cost of Voting Index measures and ranks how difficult it is to vote in each state in the United States, focusing on voter registration and voting rules.[1] [2] The index also has rankings for every two years since 1996.[3] [4] The states ranked as being easier to vote also tend to have higher voter turnout.[5] [6]
The 2022 iteration of the index has 10 categories with various criteria within each category to measure and rank each state on how easy it is to vote.
| Voter Registration |
|
|
| Same day registration not allowed for all elections | |
| Same day registration not located at polling station | ||
| Mental competency req. for voter registration | ||
| No online voter registration | ||
| Same day reg. not allowed for presidential election | ||
| Felons not allowed to register while incarcerated | ||
| Felons not allowed to register after incarceration | ||
| Online voter reg. deadline greater than median | ||
| Additional documents req. beyond federal min. | ||
| Official group certification required | |
| State mandated training required | ||
| Group required to submit documents to state | ||
| Penalty imposed for violation of deadlines or rules | ||
| No registration drives allowed (scored ‘‘5’’) | ||
| 0 = 16-year-olds can pre-register | |
| 1 = 17-year-olds can pre-register | ||
| 2 = 17.5-year-olds can pre-register | ||
| 3 = 90 days before 18th birthday can pre-register | ||
| 4 = 60 days before 18th birthday can pre-register | ||
| 5 = 16-year-old policy, no legal basis | ||
| 6 = no state law discusses pre-registration | ||
| 0 = Citizen must opt out–‘‘Back end AVR’’ | |
| 1 = Automatic reg. at more than one state agency | ||
| 2 = Automatic registration at DMV, only | ||
| 3 = No automatic voter registration | ||
| Voting |
| No Election Day state holiday |
| No early voting | ||
| No all mail voting | ||
| No Voting Centers | ||
| No time-off from work for voting | ||
| No time-off from work with pay for voting | ||
| Mail voting but no Election Day polling option | ||
| Reduced number of polling stations post-Holder | ||
| Reduced # of polling stations >50% (some areas) | ||
| Excessive Election Day wait time | ||
| No postage paid envelopes | ||
| No passing out food/water to people in line to vote | ||
| 0 = no ID required to cast a ballot, only signature | |
| 1 = non-photo ID required not strictly enforced | ||
| 2 = photo ID required not strictly enforced | ||
| 3 = non-photo ID required strictly enforced | ||
| 4 = photo ID required strictly enforced | ||
| Min. and Max. poll hours (averaged & reversed) | |
| Number of early voting days (reversed) | |
| State-sanctioned excuse required to vote absentee | |
| No in-person absentee voting | ||
| No permanent absentee status allowed | ||
| No online absentee application process | ||
| Must include copy of ID to vote absentee | ||
| No convenient absentee ballot drop-off locations | ||
| Restriction on who can return an absentee ballot | ||
| Restriction on timing/quantity of ballots returned | ||
| No 3rd party dist. of absentee ballot applications | ||
| No election official distribution of absentee ballots |
The following factors, while not included, also influence the ease and likelihood of voting or voter suppression.
Ballot initiatives often give voters more reasons to go to the polls by offering a straightforward way to streamline their own election process by circumventing the incumbent politicians.[7]
ballots with dozens and dozens of items to vote on can discourage citizens from doing the difficult research they may feel is required, spending less time researching each race.[8]
voting is easier when 90%+ of citizens vote, creating positive cultural norms, establishing voting habits, and having more citizens who can help each other navigate the process.
Election frequency and timing: two-round elections, recall elections, and off-year elections all suppress voter turnout.[9]
Gerrymandering can disincentivize voting by artificially making certain races less competitive.[10]
Information accessibility and press freedom: information warfare,[11] support for public or nonprofit media, and transparency in government operations all influence the ease of voting and trust of voting systems through enhanced election security. 2/3 of U.S. college students cited a lack of information as a reason for why they didn't vote.[12]
Party membership requirements: requiring voters to register with a party makes voting more complex and difficult, especially for those people who don't identify with the party that is likely to win the seat in the general election.
Purges of voter rolls: the act of unregistering voters by sending postcards requiring what amounts to re-registration or employing a 'use it or lose it' approach where after a certain number of elections of not voting, voters are automatically removed from the voter rolls without any evidence that they have moved.[13]
Threats and voter intimidation: Intimidation can result from the presence of cameras or guns at polling places to ballots that may not be secret.[14] Following-through on threats by physically harming or killing people can severely deter voter participation.[15]
voting starting at the age of 16 helps the learning process of how to vote, and simplicity with regard to felony enfranchisement also makes voting simpler.[12]
Voter verification: a substantial match standard for signatures on mail-in ballots, for example, makes it less likely for valid votes to be destroyed than in a system with an 'exact match' standard, without any evidence of an increase in fraud.[16] Many states in the U.S., for example, also allow voters to remedy ballots where the signatures seem too different.[17] Other sources of complications arise from issues in matching data from different databases where discrepancies could arise for lots of reasons for those with the right to vote.[18]
The states at the top represent the easiest states for voting, with the states at the bottom having the most difficult process to cast a ballot.