A multidisciplinary team of Arcadia researchers has published a study in the journal Diabetology looking at the relationship between voter participation in the United States and mobility difficulties among adults with diabetes. 

Led by Dr. Heather McClintock, an associate professor in the Department of Public Health, the team found mobility difficulties decreased voter participation in local elections for people with diabetes. According to the researchers, this is the first known study to assess the impact on local elections.

“A substantial amount of research has shown that persons with disabilities are less likely to vote than persons without disabilities,” McClintock said. “However, little research has focused on understanding voting behavior among persons with both diabetes and mobility difficulties.”

McClintock, along with Nicole Ducray ’25MPH and Sarah Edmonds ’22M, MFA, an adjunct professor of English, used data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey for persons with diabetes, and defined mobility difficulties as difficulty walking or climbing stairs. They discovered that among persons with diabetes, 48.9% reported difficulties walking or climbing stairs, with only 18.8% voting in their last local election. 

“Persons with mobility difficulties experience many barriers to voting such as inadequate access to transportation, structural limitations at polling locations, informational gaps, and stigmatization,” Edmonds explained. “These barriers are likely heightened in the context of diabetes as persons navigate psychological, physical, and emotional factors associated with diabetes.”

There are many approaches that can support voting participation for persons with mobility difficulties, McClintock and her team explain. Simply having more accessible parking, easier-to-find ramps and entrances, and even curbside voting could help. In addition, communities need to support the work of the American Diabetes Association, American Public Health Association, and the American Association of People with Disabilities to ensure voting issues are addressed.

“Working with and supporting these organizations in their advocacy, policy-making, and other activities can be an important way to foster equitable access to voting for all people,” McClintock said.

In the future, McClintock hopes to turn her attention to investigating whether there is equitable voting engagement in state and federal elections for persons with diabetes and mobility difficulties.

Find the study, “Voting Participation in Local Elections and Mobility Difficulties Among Persons with Diabetes: Results from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey,” here.