The Public Code of Racialized Electioneering

Type Report Author Eitan Hersh URL https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1901899 Place Rochester, NY Date 2011 Accessed 2016-10-24 12:13:14 Institution Social Science Research Network Report Type SSRN Scholarly Paper Library Catalog papers.ssrn.com Abstract Race can be a useful signal of a voter's political preferences. Knowing a voter's race is therefore valuable to politicians looking to assemble electoral coalitions. But, when politicians want to reach out to voters through individual-level campaign appeals, it is difficult for them to distinguish Black voters from White voters. When a voter's race is listed in a public record, as it is in eight Southern states, mobilization by race becomes easier, resulting in substantially higher turnout among voters with known races. This analysis demonstrates the power of having information in electoral politics, offers a corrective to theories that over-estimate what politicians typically know about voters, and suggests that an administrative policy meant to protect minority voting rights has the perverse effect of heightening racial segmentation. Implications for the future are considered, when politicians and campaigns will have access to even more personal information about citizens. Report Number ID 1901899