Voter Participation (Average) - Female in New Hampshire

New Hampshire

Voting is a form of active civic engagement associated with better health, reduced violence in the community and lower unemployment rates. Research suggests that active social engagement can improve both mental and physical health by providing a greater sense of belonging. Voting allows individuals a voice in local, state and national political processes that affect many aspects of life, including individual wealth, rights, education, social services, and health care access and quality. 

Women gained the right to vote a century ago, and since 1980, they have consistently voted at significantly higher rates than men. There is evidence that women have different policy priorities than men as well, focusing on issues such as funding for child welfare and public health.

Although overall voter turnout has increased steadily over the last several decades, differences persist among certain groups. According to data from the United States Census Bureau, the prevalence of voter turnout in 2020 was higher among:

• Non-Hispanic white adults compared with non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic adults. Research has found that strict identification laws negatively impact the turnout of Hispanic, Black and mixed-race citizens.
• People with a bachelor’s degree or higher compared with those who have less education.
• People without disabilities compared with those who have disabilities.

Interventions are needed at multiple levels to increase voter participation in the U.S. and address disparities. Ways to remove barriers to voting include:

• Simplifying voter registration processes.
• Targeting underrepresented populations, such as high school and college students, with awareness campaigns.
• Sending out notices about voter identification requirements in advance of elections.
• Changing voter identification laws that unfairly disadvantage minority and marginalized groups.
• Ensuring polling places are accessible to all voters, including people with disabilities, on election days and for early in-person voting.

Many national- and state-level organizations are committed to improving voter access and turnout. One such organization, Vot-ER, promotes civic engagement by empowering health care institutions and providers to register patients and others in their institutions to vote.

Healthy People 2030 identifies civic participation as a key issue in the Social and Community Context domain.

Brennan, Jan. “Increasing Voter Turnout in Local Elections.” National Civic Review 109, no. 1 (Spring 2020): 16–23. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.32543/naticivirevi.109.1.0016.

Brown, Chloe L., Danyaal Raza, and Andrew D. Pinto. “Voting, Health and Interventions in Healthcare Settings: A Scoping Review.” Public Health Reviews 41, no. 1 (December 2020): 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-020-00133-6.

Citrin, Jack, Donald P. Green, and Morris Levy. “The Effects of Voter ID Notification on Voter Turnout: Results from a Large-Scale Field Experiment.” Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy 13, no. 2 (June 2014): 228–42. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2013.0209.

Hajnal, Zoltan, Nazita Lajevardi, and Lindsay Nielson. “Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes.” The Journal of Politics 79, no. 2 (2017): 363–79. https://doi.org/10.1086/688343.

Miller, Grant. “Women’s Suffrage, Political Responsiveness, and Child Survival in American History.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 123, no. 3 (August 1, 2008): 1287–1327. https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2008.123.3.1287.

Rome, Sunny Harris. “Why Voting Matters.” In Promote the Vote: Positioning Social Workers for Action, by Sunny Harris Rome, 31–49. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84482-0_2.

Schur, Lisa, Douglas Kruse, Mason Ameri, and Meera Adya. Disability and Voting Accessibility in the 2022 Elections. Rutgers University for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, July 2023.https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/EAC_2023_Rutgers_Report_FINAL.pdf.