Voter suppression facts for kids
Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the opinions of potential voters through persuasion and organization, activating otherwise inactive voters, or registering new supporters. Voter suppression, instead, attempts to gain an advantage by reducing the turnout of certain voters. Suppression is an anti-democratic tactic associated with authoritarianism.
The tactics of voter suppression range from changes that increase voter fatigue, to intimidating or harming prospective voters.
See also
In Spanish: Supresión del votante para niños
- Authoritarianism
- Hybrid regime
- Democratic backsliding
- Electoral fraud
- Gerrymandering
- Unfair election
- Vote equality
- Voter caging
