Ep. 1: Domestic Violence - Voter Expression

Note: This piece was created for a class.

“The number one thing you can do to address domestic and sexual violence is commit to voting,” says the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, but survivors of inter-partner violence face unique barriers to voting including “fear of potential retaliation, privacy concerns, and lack of important election information.” From intimidation for asserting voting preferences to isolation from election materials to the fact that voter registrations are public record, survivors' voices are suppressed in the home and at the ballot box. “When I was in an abusive relationship, I was told all the time that my voice didn’t matter. But it does. My voice matters. That’s why I vote,” says one domestic violence survivor.

On this episode of Voter Expression, we seek to better understand how inter-partner violence acts as a voter suppression tactic. The extent of election-related inter-partner violence is unknown but believed to be substantial, which, in the lead-up to one of the most important U.S. elections in recent memory, makes this issue especially prescient.