Chronic health conditions and voter turnout: Results from the 2012 United States presidential election

Abstract

This study examined associations between diagnoses with five chronic health conditions (diabetes, cancer, heart disease, asthma, and arthritis) and turnout in the 2012 US presidential election. We used cross‐sectional survey data from 16 states from the 2013 and 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We estimated a logistic regression model with the main dependent variable as a survey item asking respondents if they voted. We also estimated logistic regression models stratified by race/ethnicity to assess whether the chronic health condition–turnout relationships varied within each racial/ethnic group. Results show that individuals diagnosed with diabetes were 7 percentage‐points more likely to vote that those who were not. Stratified models revealed these diabetes–turnout relationships are particularly strong among those who identified as Hispanic and multiracial. Other health characteristics demonstrated consistency with previous literature, including lower self‐rated health being associated with lower odds of turnout. Our research suggests an intriguing new relationship between the experience of diabetes and a higher propensity to vote and that different chronic health conditions have varying associations with the likelihood to vote, implying that some groups are more vulnerable to being underrepresented in politics.

Healthy citizens, healthy democracies? A review of the literature

“…Far from reinforcing the effects of marginalization, health problems appear to boost the turnout of racial minorities in the US. African Americans with cancer proved more likely to vote than whites with cancer (Gollust and Rahn, 2015) and a particularly strong diabetes-voting relationship was found among those who identified as Hispanic and multiracial (McGuire et al, 2021b). Clearly, more studies are needed to understand how race, class, and health interact to affect voter turnout (Gollust and Rahn, 2015; Ojeda and Pacheco, 2019).…”

“…The diagnosis matters. A US study revealed that people with heart disease were less likely to vote, whereas those with cancer were more likely, reflecting possible differences in disease identity and the advocacy efforts of disease-focused organizations (Gollust and Rahn, 2015; see also McGuire et al, 2021b). A Finnish study of 17 chronic health conditions similarly found that cancer, like COPD/asthma, was positively associated with voting, but turnout was unaffected by heart disease, arthrosis, multiple sclerosis, or kidney disease (Sund et al, 2017).…”

Health Equity and the Dynamism of Structural Racism and Public Policy

“…30,31 A relationship between health status and political participation is well established, but the direction and strength of the relationship varies by race/ethnicity, health condition, income, and education. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38] As the focus of this paper is on racial health inequities, I will focus my discussion on the political consequences of health inequities.…”

Health and Disability Gaps in Political Engagement: A Short Review

“…Most studies of actual party choices in elections have been conducted in countries using the first-past-thepost electoral system, with results from the UK showing that people in poor health in general [9] or people with depression [10] are more likely to favour Labour over the Conservatives, and in the United States, results show that the Republicans are similarly favoured by those in good health [11]. However, more recent studies of European multiparty systems indicate that poor health is associated with a higher likelihood of voting for right-wing populist parties [12]. Finally, there are also some results indicating that mental health issues may affect voting choices in referendums as well, as was the case with the Brexit referendum [13].…”