Voter Participation (Presidential) in Alaska

Alaska

Voting is a form of active civic engagement, which is associated with better health, reduced violence and lower unemployment rates. Civic participation during adolescence and early adulthood is also associated with higher educational attainment and income later in life. 

Voting in particular is linked to lower levels of depression and fewer risky health behaviors. While the exact mechanisms behind these relationships are unclear, research suggests that active civic participation improves mental health by providing a greater sense of belonging and decreased social isolation.

In 2024, the prevalence of voter participation was higher among:

• Non-Hispanic white adults compared with non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic adults. Studies have found that strict photo identification laws negatively impact voter turnout among Hispanic, Black and multiracial citizens.
• Those with an annual household income of $150,000 or more compared with those who have lower incomes. 
• College graduates compared with those who have high school or lower levels of education.
• Older adults ages 65-74 compared with those ages 18-24. 
• Women compared with men.

Interventions are needed at multiple levels to increase voter participation in the United States, including: 

• Changing voter identification laws that unfairly disadvantage racial and ethnic minorities.
• Targeting underrepresented populations, such as high school and college students, with awareness campaigns. 
• Sending out notifications about voter identification requirements in advance of elections. 

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.

Civic participation is a key issue in Healthy People 2030’s Social and Community Context domain of the social determinants of health.

Ballard, Parissa J., Lindsay T. Hoyt, and Mark C. Pachucki. “Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood.” Child Development 90, no. 4 (2019): 1138–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12998.

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.

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.

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.