How Does Voting Equipment Affect the Racial Gap in Voided Ballots?

Abstract

An accumulating body of research suggests that African Americans cast invalid ballots at a higher rate than whites. Our analysis of a unique precinct‐level dataset from South Carolina and Louisiana shows that the black‐white gap in voided ballots depends crucially on the voting equipment people use. In areas with punch cards or optically scanned ballots, the black‐white gap ranged from four to six percentage points. Lever and electronic machines, which prohibit overvoting and make undervoting more transparent and correctible, cut the discrepancy by a factor of ten. Judging from exit polls and opinion surveys, much of the remaining difference could be due to intentional undervoting, which African Americans profess to practice at a slightly higher rate than whites. In any case, the use of appropriate voting technologies can virtually eliminate the black‐white disparity in invalid ballots.