Abstract
Scholars from a variety of disciplines have analyzed voter participation, with most studies focusing on socio-demographic issues to explain turnout . Often overlooked, however, is the geography of voter participation . Omaha, Nebraska presents an economically and ethnically diverse study area to examine geographic factors related to turnout . Over 51 percent of the state’s registered voters live in three counties—Douglas, Sarpy, and Lancaster—which contain the Omaha and Lincoln metropolitan areas . This project employs Geographic Information Science (GIScience) along with electoral geography principles and spatial analysis to evaluate voter participation across the Omaha metropolitan area . Getis-Ord Gi* statistic is utilized to demonstrate statistically significant spatial clustering of high and low values of voter participation and turnout at the census block-group level . This study also examines a number of demographic variables through stepwise regression that help explain voting patterns in the Omaha metropolitan area . Results indicate that, independent of party affiliation, educated, middle-class, white populations in Omaha have higher voter participation rates
Recommended Citation
Taylor, Kaitlyn; Combs, H. Jason; and Burger, Paul R.
(2016)
"A GIScience Approach to Analyzing Spatial Patterns of Voter Turnout in Omaha, Nebraska,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 57:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol57/iss2/3