Cleveland’s voter registration rate is much better than might be expected given the city’s demographics. According to one measure, as many as 90 percent of Cleveland’s eligible population is registered to vote. The community has coalesced around efforts to ensure that residents are able to cast a ballot, and the efforts have worked.
On the other hand, in the 2023 election, just 29.4 percent of Cleveland’s registered voters cast a ballot. Part of the explanation for Cleveland’s lower than average turnout lies in the success of voter registration efforts. Although the percentage is low, that still represents nearly 73,000 ballots. Over 250,000 registered voters live in Cleveland. Not everyone who registers to vote is a likely voter. It is easy to fill out a form, and more difficult to make plans to vote early or get to a polling place on election day.
Structural barriers, disillusionment, and voting
The combination of structural barriers and disillusion with politics is keeping people in our community from the polls. Advocates who work with older adults recently shared that residents of senior living apartment buildings say they feel that their vote doesn’t matter, and that nothing changes whether they vote or not. They are not alone. Dislike of candidates or issues was the most common reason registered voters gave for sitting out the presidential election, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population survey. Just before the last presidential election in 2020, a poll by Ipsos commissioned by FiveThirtyEight found that people who rarely or never vote were more likely than occasional voters to say that “no matter who wins, nothing will change for people like me”, or that the “system is too broken to be fixed by voting”. Another factor influencing their choice to not vote was “because of where I live, my vote doesn’t matter.”
Around 12.5 percent of the differences in voter turnout can be explained by the prevalence of redlining.
When Community Solutions prepared our Cleveland Neighborhood data profiles and fact sheets, we noted that residents of certain neighborhoods were much more likely to have voted in the last general election than others. Voter turnout tended to be higher in neighborhoods on the westside of Cleveland than the eastside. Eight of the ten neighborhoods with the highest voter turnout are on the west side. Places like Kamm’s, Edgewater, Cuyahoga Valley, Tremont, and Ohio City had voter turnout rates that were two-to-three times as high as neighborhoods including Kinsman, St. Clair-Superior, Clark-Fulton, Stockyards, and Central. For those familiar with data on conditions in this community, this list is an all-too-familiar pattern, one where areas of concern align with parts of the city that were once redlined.
Use the map, above, to explore voter turnout rate by neighborhood, shown in blue, and the share of the neighborhood which was once redlined. Slide from side to side and you will see the pattern of disinvestment, distrust, and disenfranchisement. There is a significant relationship between redlined areas and voter turnout, and according to statistical analysis, there is strong evidence that this effect is real and not just by chance. Around 12.5 percent of the differences in voter turnout can be explained by the prevalence of redlining. This analysis suggests that neighborhoods that have been affected by redlining still see fewer people voting today, showing a lasting effect of past unfair treatment.
The outcome of this election will determine the direction of state and federal policy.
Past policies impacting voter turnout
Many cities have overcome the legacy of overtly racist policies which prevented certain neighborhoods from thriving. Cleveland has not, and voter turnout is just another example. It should be no surprise that people in certain parts of the city feel ignored. The focus on investing in Cleveland, especially on the south east side, are certainly a step in the right direction. It will be a hard sell to convince our neighbors who have experienced generational poverty, racism, trauma, and disinvestment that it is worth casting a ballot. But we have to try. The outcome of this election will determine the direction of state and federal policy, and Issue 1 presents fundamental questions about the future of Ohio’s democracy.
The Center for Community Solutions’ team has made plans to take a field trip to the Boards of Elections in Cuyahoga and Franklin for some of us to vote early, together. Rides on election day will be free across Greater Cleveland RTA. Early voting is open. Please encourage everyone, in every neighborhood, to claim their power and cast a ballot.
