Episode 16: "Vote or Die" - A Conversation About Voting w/ Dr. Ariel White

With the upcoming midterm elections, voting and voting rights have once again become hot topics of discussion. Today we interview Dr. Ariel White an assistant professor of Political Science at MIT who studies voting and voting rights, race, and the criminal justice system. We begin by discussing common misconceptions about voting (18:03), the importance of studying race and criminal justice within the context of voting and voting rights (20:55), and restoring the voting rights of parolees (23:00). We also discuss recent changes to the Voting Rights Act (25:55), trends in voting related to race and the factors that contribute to potential differences by race (28:40), how party politics might shape voting and turnout (31:00), and the role of threat and immigration on voter mobilization (33:00). We close the interview by discussing barriers to voting and how to combat efforts to make voting more difficult (39:52).

Other Topics Include:

00:30 - Catch up with Ty and Daphne

01:35 - BhD “Oh Lawd” News Segment

12:57 - Snippets of MLK and Obama on voting

15:32 - Introduction of the Topic

16:17 - Learn more about Dr. Ariel White

37:10 - Dr. White shares info about her research on criminal justice and voting

45:35 - Ty and Daphne reflect on the interview

Resources

• Dr. Ariel White’s Faculty Page: https://polisci.mit.edu/people/ariel-white

• Dr. Ariel White’s Twitter: @ArielRWhite

• “The Entirely Preventable Battle Raging Over Voting Rights” - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/04/shelby-county-v-holder-voting-rights-supreme-court/522867/

• “Supreme Court Blacks North Carolina from Restoring Strict Voting Law” - https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/us/politics/north-carolina-supreme-court-voting-rights-act.html

• Gov. Andrew Cuomo Gives Parolees the Right to Vote in His State” - https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/18/us/parolees-right-to-vote-new-york-trnd/index.html

• Traci Burch’s Faculty Page (Scholar on Political Participation) - https://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/traci-burch.html