Automobile Access

Bike Lane Access

Traffic Volume

Transportation

Diesel Particulate Matter

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Ozone

Clean Environment

Park Access

Tree Canopy

Neighborhood

Above Poverty

Employed

Per Capita Income

Economic

Census Response

Voting

Social

Insured Adults

Healthcare Access

Homeownership

Housing Habitability

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Homeowners

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Renters

Uncrowded Housing

Housing

Bachelor's Education

High School Enrollment

Preschool Enrollment

Education

Outdoor Workers

Supermarket Access

Two Parent Households

Library Access

Safe Drinking Water

Public Transit Access

Decision Support

Everyone should be able to contribute their voice to the political process and to participate in their communities. Voter participation is an indicator of both civic engagement and social cohesion. It has strong, but indirect, connections to health.

Communities with higher rates of voter participation typically have more civic engagement than other communities and are often better positioned to successfully influence the local conditions that shape health.

 For instance, communities may advocate for beneficial programs and education, or against the location of toxic facilities in their neighborhood. Voting is one important way in which civic engagement is exercised in Utah, but far from the only one. Economic or institutional influence and community organizing can also influence community conditions. Yet there are few data sources, and none at the census tract level for the entire state, that measure these other mechanisms, leaving voter participation as an imperfect but necessary proxy.

Voting can also be an indicator of social cohesion, or the trust, relationships, social support and participation in a community or society. A number of studies, have drawn connections between social cohesion and health.

 Social cohesion has also been found to be health protective during climate events and other disasters, helping people and communities respond and recover.

 Like civic engagement, there are currently few data sources, and none at the census tract level for the entire state, that provide an adequate picture of social cohesion.

A longitudinal study of over 9,000 youth released in 2018 found a positive association between civic engagement (defined as voting, volunteering and activism) and income and education levels later in adulthood;

 both are factors that can influence one’s health. Members of diverse communities are less likely to be involved in political participation, such as engagement with elected officials, and participation in campaigns, meetings, protests, or consumer activism show similar patterns, reflecting broader inequities in political engagement.

This indicator measures the percentage of registered voters who voted in the 2020 general election.

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative. (2015). Social determinants of health indicator. BARHII. Retrieved from https://www.barhii.org/sdoh-indicator-guide

California Department of Public Health. (2020, September 9). Healthy communities data indicators project: Voter registration and participation. Retrieved from https://data.chhs.ca.gov/dataset/voter-registration-2002-2010/resource/fe57363f-07fa-42bc-aabc-4291e6b3babb

Klinenberg, E. (2002). Heatwave: A social autopsy of disaster in Chicago. University of Chicago Press.

Ballard, P. J., Hoyt, L. T., & Pachucki, M. C. (2019). Impacts of adolescent and young adult civic engagement on health and socioeconomic status in adulthood. Child Development, 90(4), 1138–1154. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12998

Engie, K., Dobard, J., Engie, K., Ramakrishnan, K., & Shah, S. (2016, June). Unequal Voices: California’s racial disparities in political participation. Advancement Project. Retrieved from https://www.advancementprojectca.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Unequal-Voices-Single-Pages-Low-Res-6-28-16.pdf

Engie, K., Dobard, J., Engie, K., Ramakrishnan, K., & Shah, S. (2016, June). Unequal Voices: California’s racial disparities in political participation. Advancement Project.  Retrieved from https://www.advancementprojectca.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Unequal-Voices-Single-Pages-Low-Res-6-28-16.pdf

Increasing political engagement and community cohesion requires strategies specifically focused on voter engagement, as well as others that are aimed at increasing civic engagement and connection more broadly.

Ensuring people are ready and registered to vote is an important first step in increasing voter participation. Local jurisdictions can 

 by streamlining the registration process through same-day registration, online registration and pre-registration of youth. These strategies make it easier for everyone to register to vote, particularly those with lower rates of participation. Similarly, local governments can 

, creating opportunities for more people to vote by ensuring language and disability access and offering additional places and ways to vote.

Another set of strategies are available to increase civic engagement and connection outside of the electoral arena. Local governments can 

 to create opportunities for meaningful political participation in government decisions about the community conditions that impact health. They can also form partnerships to 

. This involves nurturing health-supportive community networks, and supporting community voice and engagement to improve the conditions that shape health through strategies like community organizing and capacity building.

Nurture health-supportive community networks, and support community voice and engagement to improve the conditions that shape health.

Equity

Community Engagement and Connection

Promising

Collective Impact Initiatives

Sufficient Evidence

Community Organizing

Parent Engagement and Advocacy Programs

Labor Organizing

Strong Evidence

Restorative Justice Programs

Youth Development and Advocacy Programs

Physical Activity

Violence Prevention and Safety

Proactively outreach to communities with low voting rates to boost voter engagement and reduce disparities in voting rates.

Get Out the Vote Technology (Emerging Practice)

In-Reach

Proactive Outreach and Education

Community-Based Outreach

Ensure people are ready and eligible to vote by streamlining the registration process.

Same Day Registration

Online Registration

Pre-registration

Make it possible for more people to vote by ensuring language and disability access and offering additional places and ways to vote.

Vote by Mail

Accessible Voting

Municipal Elections

Create opportunities for meaningful political participation in decisions about the community conditions that impact health.

Policy Guide

Voting

References