Matsubayashi Tetsuya, Ueda Michiko
Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, 1-31 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043 Japan.
Department of Political Science, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 100 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
Disabil Health J. 2014 Jul;7(3):285-91. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2014.03.001. Epub 2014 Mar 18.
For millions of people with disabilities in the United States, exercising the fundamental right to vote remains a challenge. Over the last few decades, the U.S. government has enacted several pieces of legislation to make voting accessible to individuals with disabilities.
We examine trends in self-reported voting rates among people with and without disabilities to uncover evidence for the effects of these policies on political participation. We also explore what policy change is necessary to encourage people with disabilities to vote by investigating whether the participation rates vary by the types of disabilities.
We analyze the Current Population Survey (CPS) data in the years of presidential elections for the period of 1980-2008.
Our analysis shows that the population aged 18-64 with work-preventing disabilities has been persistently less likely to vote compared to the corresponding population without such disabilities. In addition, individuals with cognitive and mobility impairments have the lowest rates of electoral participation. The gap in the likelihood of voting in-person between people with and without disabilities is considerably larger than the gap in the likelihood of voting by-mail, regardless of the types of impairments that they have.
The participation gap between people with and without disabilities did not decrease over the last three decades despite the presence of federal laws that aimed at removing barriers for voting.
对于美国数百万残疾人而言，行使基本投票权仍是一项挑战。在过去几十年里，美国政府颁布了多项立法，以使残疾人能够参与投票。
我们研究了有残疾和无残疾人群自我报告的投票率趋势，以找出这些政策对政治参与影响的证据。我们还通过调查参与率是否因残疾类型而异，来探索鼓励残疾人投票需要哪些政策变革。
我们分析了1980 - 2008年总统选举年份的当前人口调查（CPS）数据。
我们的分析表明，与相应的无此类残疾人群相比，有妨碍工作残疾的18 - 64岁人群投票的可能性一直较低。此外，认知和行动能力受损的个人选举参与率最低。无论残疾类型如何，有残疾和无残疾人群亲自投票可能性的差距都远大于通过邮寄投票可能性的差距。
尽管有旨在消除投票障碍的联邦法律，但在过去三十年里，有残疾和无残疾人群之间的参与差距并未缩小。
