ArticlePloS one2022
The relationship between voting restrictions and COVID-19 case and mortality rates between US counties.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Voting Restrictions and Increased Odds of Adverse Birth Outcomes in the US.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Electoral governance as a political determinant of health: state policy context, risk perception, and voter safety.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Using spatial Bayesian models to estimate associations between structural racial discrimination and disparities in severe maternal morbidity.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Hurricanes and Health Equity: A Review of Structural Determinants of Vulnerability for Climate and Health Research.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- Building Power, Advancing Health Equity: Insights From Voting and Beyond.American journal of public health · 2024Article
- Safeguarding Infant Lives: The Unappreciated Effects of Voting Rights Enforcement.American journal of public health · 2024Article
- Expanding voter registration to clinical settings to improve health equity.Health services research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince the 2010 election, the number of laws in the U.S. that create barriers to voting has increased dramatically. These laws may have spillover effects on population health by creating a disconnect between voter preferences and political representation, thereby limiting protective public health policies and funding. We examine whether voting restrictions are associated with county-level COVID-19 case and mortality rates.
methodsTo obtain information on restricted access to voting, we used the Cost of Voting Index (COVI), a state-level measure of barriers to voting during a U.S. election from 1996 to 2016. COVID-19 case and mortality rates were obtained from the New York Times' GitHub database (a compilation from multiple academic sources). Multilevel modeling was used to determine whether restrictive voting laws were associated with county-level COVID-19 case and mortality rates after controlling for county-level characteristics from the County Health Rankings. We tested whether associations were heterogeneous across racial and socioeconomic groups.
resultsA significant association was observed between increasing voting restrictions and COVID-19 case (ß = 580.5, 95% CI = 3.9, 1157.2) and mortality rates (ß = 16.5, 95% CI = 0.33,32.6) when confounders were included.
conclusionsRestrictive voting laws were associated with higher COVID-19 case and mortality rates.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.