As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, the work of American Bar Foundation Research Professor Traci Burch takes on heightened importance in understanding how voter eligibility verification systems impact political participation—especially for marginalized communities. With over a decade of research experience at the intersection of criminal justice and political participation, Burch is uniquely positioned to provide insights into how barriers to participation, including voter registration and ID requirements, affect voter turnout and broader democratic engagement.
In a recent interview with ABF Executive Director Mark Suchman, Burch discusses her research on voter disenfranchisement and the challenges administrative processes pose for voters. She explains how some voters, particularly low-income individuals, older people, rural residents, and those with past felony convictions, may struggle to navigate the bureaucratic hurdles involved in voter registration and ID, even when they are eligible to vote.
One of the key points in the interview is Burch’s discussion of “administrative exclusion,” a concept she adopts from public policy research. Administrative exclusion refers to the ways in which eligible voters can be excluded from the voting process due to the complexity and cost of compliance with administrative rules, such as obtaining birth certificates or verifying eligibility post-incarceration. “You might have a person who is eligible to vote and wants to participate,” says Burch, “but due to the design of the process itself, it becomes really difficult. It’s not the person’s eligibility that’s the issue—it’s the administrative system excluding them.”
In prior research, Burch looked specifically at voting patterns among individuals with felony convictions. Her analysis revealed that, even after serving their sentences, many individuals who had been disenfranchised faced significant administrative barriers when they sought to reengage with the political process. These barriers, she argues, are part of a broader issue of penal disenfranchisement, which extends beyond individuals to entire communities.
Burch also shared insights into her ongoing research, which includes collecting data on voter registration processes and studying how policy changes over time affect voter participation. As the presidential election approaches, her research will focus on understanding how these administrative processes vary across states and how they influence overall voter turnout.
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.