Submission 62
In the Eye of the Beholder: Race, Resentment, and Electoral Perceptions
Panel.2-S-1
Presented by: Joseph Coll, Sean Freeder, Enrijeta Shino
Recent work suggests American elections are becoming increasingly racialized, with widening racial gaps in perceptions of election integrity (e.g., voter fraud and suppression) and support for election policies (e.g., voter identification requirements, voter purging). This racialization is not just of scholarly concern, as recent work suggests such racialization motivates anti-democratic political extremism like the January 6th insurrection. With these concerns in mind, this article comprehensively documents the extent to which racial gaps in election integrity perceptions and policy preferences exist, and the role of racial resentment in exacerbating these gaps. We argue different perceptions and experiences with elections along racial lines (e.g., white beliefs in voter fraud, non-white experiences with voter suppression) drive a wedge in opinions towards election integrity and support for election policies between white and non-white Americans. Further, this schism is exacerbated by racial resentment, as the racially resentful are more willing to accept claims of unjust acts by the racial outgroup (e.g., fraud, suppression) and support policies to thwart those acts. Using a large battery of questions tapping election-related opinions among a white and non-white Americans, we explore the growing racial gaps in election integrity perceptions.