Rural residents slightly less likely to vote; experts say one cause is equal access to 'civil infrastructure and broadband'

How easily can you vote? That depends on many things, including whether you live in a rural or urban area. "Researchers from the Population Health Institute say that lack of access to infrastructure like broadband, recreation facilities, and public libraries hurts voter turnout in rural places," reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. "The lowest voter turnout in the U.S. is in rural counties and small metropolitan areas, according to new data from County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, an annual report published by the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin."

The overall difference is small: 65 percent rural turnout compared to 67 percent overall, but suburbs of major metropolitan areas averaged 71 percent, and many local variations are greater. The story has an interactive map that displays county-by-county data.

"The program's goal is to create awareness about the many different factors that can influence community health. One of those indicators is voter turnout, calculated as a percentage of voting-age residents who cast a ballot," Melotte writes. "In 2023, the report focused on the connections between infrastructure, civic participation (like voting), and community health. Experts say that communities with better infrastructure have higher scores on measures of public health and higher rates of voter turnout."

Resources such as libraries and recreation centers are "what public-health professionals call civic infrastructure or the amenities that help a community provide services to its residents," Melotte adds. "Civic infrastructure provides spaces 'where people organize around shared issues,' said researcher Michael Stevenson. He told Melotte, "One of the connections we see is that civic infrastructure is not equally distributed."

Unequal access penalizes less populated areas. Melotte reports, "Research shows broadband internet access is one aspect of civic infrastructure that is particularly important in influencing turnout. Experts from Harvard and the University of Virginia, who used data from the 2016 and 2018 midterms, found that people with better internet access were more likely to vote, even when they accounted for demographic factors like age and race."

What can more rural areas do to help close the gap? "Automatic voter registration and mail-in ballots could help improve voter turnout in rural places, Stevenson said. A 2022 report from the nonprofit Secure Democracy shows that restrictions on voting by mail hurt rural voters more than other Americans," Melotte adds. "Half of rural polling locations serve an area greater than 62 square miles, compared to 2 square miles in urban settings. Eliminating the burden of traveling long distances by allowing mail-in ballots makes it easier for many Americans to cast their vote."