The Impact of Voting on Racial Equity Issues

The rapid rise of the Black Lives Matter movement over the past few weeks has sparked a question in the minds of allies looking to lend a hand in the movement; what can I do to help?

Of the many, many viable options (e.g. protesting, educating, supporting black businesses, etc.), voting in your local and national elections is arguably one of the most important. Studies have shown that local election participation rates are significantly lower than national elections. While many posts on this blog have established the importance of voting for our democracy, voting is also important if we want to build a more equitable government. At the end of the day, we are a society ran by individuals in the government, and these individuals are theoretically supposed to represent our wishes. It is obvious that this system has failed marginalized communities for centuries.

However, we have the ability to change this system. Voting at the local level has more impact than at the national level. The electoral college is not existent at the local level, this means that popularity truly wins the vote. In some smaller communities, the difference between equitable and non-equitable leadership could be your one vote. For example, many counties around the nation just conducted local elections with the sheriff bid up for election. As some have pointed out, county sheriffs are some of the most powerful people in law enforcement, and their elections typically go unnoticed by the public. On a broader level, studies have shown that generalized increases in local voter turnout lead to increases in what is called "redistributive" spending. Redistributive spending is a term for funding that is given to social welfare, low-income housing, education, etc. Increases in this type of funding are extremely important for communities of color as they provide more opportunity for success.

It is important to note that while voting can help, it will require many white people to set aside their own self-interest. We can only hope that this movement will aide in that process. Additionally, we must address issues that systematically bar communities of color from participating in the electoral process. Processes such as gerrymandering, redlining, and other voter suppression tactics must be addressed. Without this, we cannot guarantee that voting will be as effective for communities of color.

Of many things that this movement has taught us, our ability to inspire change with our actions has been the most striking. While with mixed results, responses have been made to our calls for justice and reform. We should be wary of these mixed results, but we should also feel a little bit of hope from them. 

#BlackLivesMatter