Name: Washington's Data Race
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Washington state voters cast nearly 45 million ballots in primary and general elections between 2012 and 2022. Most of these were accepted. However, voters of color experienced higher ballot rejection rates than white voters. Researchers at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy are using data to understand why this is happening and, hopefully, to reduce the disparity.

In Washington State, voters of color have higher ballot rejection rates. Can data help?

In Washington State, voters of color have higher ballot rejection rates. Can data help?

Washington state voters cast nearly 45 million ballots in primary and general elections between 2012 and 2022. Most of these were accepted. However, voters of color experienced higher ballot rejection rates than white voters. Researchers at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy are using data to understand why this is happening and, hopefully, to reduce the disparity.

In Washington State, voters of color have higher ballot rejection rates. Can data show us why?

Washington's Data Race

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Washington's Data RacePublished: October 11, 2024Rachel Sun: Washington state's mail-in voting system often ends up with some of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. Every election, some of those ballots are rejected. Researchers found that voters of color have higher rejection rates. What's interesting is Washington voters don't actually self-report race when they vote.Scott Allard: We're a state that doesn't gather self-reported race and ethnicity. And so the puzzle is, what do you do?Rachel Sun: If voters aren't providing their race, how can anyone determine whether there's bias in Washington's ballot rejection system? Researchers can use a method using data like someone's last name, where they live, and a computer algorithm to estimate race.Jake Grumbach: It takes an individual's surname, and we leverage their geographic location, and it actually generates pretty accurate answers.Rachel Sun: Pretty accurate, but not perfect. Last names aren’t always indicative of racial identity.Jake Grumbach: I like to use my own example. My mother is Black and my dad is white, and because of the uniqueness of this central European Jewish last name, it's likely to predict me as white or other.Rachel Sun: Although the technique isn’t perfect, researchers say the method is helpful for analyzing large data sets. It’s used in economic research, health sciences. Basically, anytime analysts want to understand racial disparities but don’t have racial data.Calista Jahn: We did find evidence that voters of color and younger voters have higher ballot rejection rates than white voters and older voters.Rachel Sun: Researchers found that in the November 2020 general election, although the overall number of rejections were low, the ballots of Black voters were rejected about 50% more than those of white voters. Latino and Asian American voters had their ballots rejected at about twice the rate of white voters. The most common reason was mismatched signatures.Calista Jahn: We were able to understand some reasons why particular voters may have higher ballot rejection rates than others.Scott Allard: Ballot materials may not be translated in a way that works for a lot of voters of color.Calista Jahn: Hispanic and Asian voters may have more complex surnames, which make it more difficult to sign their ballot the same way every time.Scott Allard: It's important to think about race and ethnic disparities in ballot rejections as a reflection of how our electoral systems operate.Calista Jahn: When we use data to understand how all people are experiencing something like elections, we can create solutions that will best serve all people, and allow everyone, including people of color, to participate more fully in our democracy.Rachel Sun: Scott, Cali, Jacob, and the rest of the research team are presenting this information to Washington state policymakers. They're also sharing ideas to hopefully make sure fewer ballots are rejected.Calista Jahn: What we found, what we recommended, what our process was-Rachel Sun: Things like user-friendly, standardized ballot designs, a stronger role for community-based organizations, and, of course, a lot more data.

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Washington's Data Race

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