The degree to which voters wait to cast their ballot varies substantially by state. Past research has indicated that state-specific laws and practices are often a key factor in this differentiation. At the same time, research on wait times also shows that, while some states and jurisdictions have long wait times caused by “chronic,” institutional issues, wait time issues can also be due to unique, unexpected events and emergencies.
There is also wide variability in wait times across different segments of the population. One of the most prominent disparities occurs along racial lines: in elections since 2006, non-whites — and African-Americans in particular — have consistently reported longer wait times to vote. The same research that showed this trend also found that even within the same jurisdictions, areas that trend whiter in population are less likely to experience long wait times than their non-white counterparts. In this sense, the study argues that the racial gap may result from a difference in how election officials handle white and minority precincts, including, for example, in the allocation of resources such as poll workers and voting machines.