Allegheny Votes

• If you fear imminent violence, call 9-1-1. Notify your local election official at your polling place. Document what you saw or experienced: what happened, where, and when, and whether any voters were deterred from voting.
• Call Election Protection at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683). Assistance is also available in Spanish at 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888- 839-8682), in Arabic at 844-YALLA-US (844-915-5187), and Asian languages at 888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683). A video American Sign Language line is available at 301-818-VOTE (301-818-8683).
• Multiple federal statutes make it a crime to intimidate voters: it is illegal to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a person, or attempt to do so, “for the purpose of interfering with” that person’s right “to vote or to vote as he may choose.” 18 U.S.C. § 594.
• It is also a crime to knowingly and willfully intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person, or attempt to do so, for “registering to vote, or voting,” or for “urging or aiding” anyone to vote or register to vote. 52 U.S.C. § 20511(1).
• And it is a crime to “by force or threat of force” willfully injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person because he or she is voting or has voted or “in order to intimidate” anyone from voting. 18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(1)(A).
• Section 11 of the Voting Rights Act makes it unlawful to “intimidate, threaten, or coerce” another person, or attempt to do so, “for voting or attempting to vote” or “for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote.” 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b).
• Section 2 of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 makes it unlawful for “two or more persons to conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat,” any voter from casting a ballot for the candidate of his or her choice. 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3).
• Here are some examples of conduct near polling sites that likely would constitute illegal voter intimidation:Violent behavior inside or outside the polling site
  • Verbal threats of violence
  • Confronting voters while wearing military-style or official-looking uniforms
  • Spreading false information about voter fraud, voting requirements, or related criminal penalties
  • Brandishing firearms or the intimidating display of firearms
  • Aggressively approaching voters’ vehicles or writing down voters’ license plate numbers
  • Disrupting voting lines or blocking the entrance to the polling place
  • Harassing voters, aggressively questioning them about their qualifications to vote
  • Following voters to, from, or within the polling place
• PA Law regarding Voter Intimidation:
• No person, when within the polling place, shall electioneer or solicit votes for any political party, political body or candidate, nor shall any written or printed matter be posted up within the said room, except as required by this act. All persons, except election officers, clerks, machine inspectors, overseers, watchers, persons in the course of voting, persons lawfully giving assistance to voters, and peace and police officers, when permitted by the provisions of this act, must remain at least ten (10) feet distant from the polling place during the progress of the voting. (Pa. Consol. Stat. Ann. § 3060 (c); (d))

Adapted from Georgetown University

One of the most famous sayings in politics is that “all politics is local.” Information about one’s community can influence voters. Much of what happens in politics is due to how voters are presented with information about their own communities. Voter turnout statistics can help illustrate the subtle differences and political nuances existing in various municipalities.

The Census Bureau has voter turnout numbers for some counties, excluding much information. Even if counted, small counties can contain over fifty precincts, and each precinct may contain a different political culture, and thus, different voter turnout rates. By breaking down turnout statistics into smaller units of analyses, we are able to get a finer picture of voter behavior and the operation of local politics.

Voter turnout data are difficult to acquire – often researchers must gather data county by county, or wait a few years after an election for turnout data from the Census Bureau. Even then, Census data is only an estimate. The Voter Turnout Archive provides easy access to actual, non-estimated turnout data and greater transparency of voting records.

We requested turnout statistics from numerous Pennsylvania Counties. Some counties, however, did not keep records of how many ballots were cast in each precinct. Rather, they had turnout numbers for each precinct broken down by office. In order to find the total turnout for each precinct, therefore, we combined the turnout numbers for each office, in each precinct. We used the office that contained the highest turnout because that number would be roughly equal to the total turnout as the most voters cast a ballot in that election.

To calculate voter turnout, we use the “Census Citizen Method,” as described by Lopez et al. We took the number of people voting in any given election divided by the municipality / township’s population of citizens aged 18 and over.

Population values at the municipality and township level for citizens aged 18 and over are available only for the decennial census years. For the years in between census collections, we estimated our population numbers evenly over the ten-year period, based on the population change from census to census.

(See Mark Hugo Lopez, Emily Kirby, Jared Sagoff, and Chris Herbst, “The Youth Vote 2004; With a Historical Look at Voting Patterns, 1972-2004.” Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) Working Paper 35, July 2005. https://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/WorkingPapers/WP35CIRCLE.pdf)

How to use this Data

Turnout statistics are in separate Microsoft Excel workbook files by County. For example, the workbook file named “butler.xls” contains three spreadsheets for Butler County, PA. The first spreadsheet, named “voter” contains raw numbers of how many people voted in a given election. The second spreadsheet, “pop” contains population numbers and estimates for all municipalities / townships in Butler County. The final spreadsheet, named “voter turnout %” contains voter turnout calculations, given as percentages, for each election for each municipality or township.

American National Election Studies
Data on elections, political participation, and public opinion
www.electionstudies.org

CIRCLE
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement Information on the youth vote, young Americans’ political participation, and civic education
www.civicyouth.org

IDEA
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Global voter turnout numbers
www.idea.int

U.S. Census Bureau
Census voter turnout and registration statistics
https://www.census.gov/topics/public-sector/voting.html

USA Votenet
Voter turnout statistics by demographic group
https://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics