Equity in Voting Accessibility: The Case of North Carolina

Limited political participation in certain groups or areas could potentially lead to social and economic crisis. This paper examined whether or not voting accessibility have been equally distributed to different groups of citizens by race, gender, economic status, and distance to voting sites, focusing on the case of North Carolina in the United States. In particular, we discovered who were more likely to vote early as an absentee vote including Sunday and what factors affected their voting behaviors. We used the 2012 U.S. Presidential election data to examine socioeconomic characteristics of those who voted early and on Sunday. The findings from this research could be used as guidance to policy-makers and law-makers on how to enhance the level of equity in voting accessibility and reduce potential conflict and crisis within a society, not only in the U.S but also in other countries.